LOTHK: Lifestream Vol: Book 3: Rise of a Legend
by Commander Kitsune
Summary: As the final act draws near, Naruto and Gaara strugle against Jenova from her conquest on the planet. However there is tension between Aeris and Tifa over who claims Cloud first. The conclusion to the battle for the life of the planet draws near.
1. Chapter 1: Bad News

**Book 3 - Rise of a Legend**

**Chapter 1: Bad News**

The first thing Tifa noticed when she came around was the glare. The harsh glare of light that seemed to come from nowhere, yet everywhere. It burned through her eyelids and into her soul. Tifa moaned softly and turned her head away from the glare, wishing it would stop and let her sleep. It continued to burn through her, bringing her to consciousness. Opening her lips, she breathed softly. The air was warm. As she breathed, she came to realise that someone was beside her.

"…ding…"

"Huh?" came a voice.

The voice came from the person who sat beside her. Tifa flexed her fingers, and then curled them into her palms. She knew that voice. It was deep and baritone, speaking unusually softly and filled with concern and worry. She could not place his name, though. Sadness overwhelmed her. She had hoped it would be Cloud's voice that awakened her, but inside she knew that it would not be his voice. Tifa began to open her eyes—winced against the harshness of the light. "The glare…" she said quietly, aware that her voice sounded dull and unnatural in the unending light.

The person beside her spoke again. "You'll be better soon. You've been asleep for a long time."

Tifa turned her head to face the man who spoke. She had been asleep… for a long time? How long a time? Opening her eyes only a little, she could just make out the shadow of a large man sitting nearby. The bright light obscured most of his image from her, but she could see just enough to make out who he was and remember his name. Closing her eyes again, she let her head roll back to face the ceiling.

"I'm…… hungry…" she said, suddenly becoming aware of how hungry she was. She was becoming more aware about other things, too. Like how stiff and sore her body was, and how she was lying on a hard bed with nothing but a firm pillow beneath her head. Questions began to run in the mind, but she could not focus on them for long.

Beside her, she heard a faint, amused chuckle. The man quickly stopped himself from laughing further, and dropped his voice to a serious level. "Hey, why don't you ask?" Getting up off his chair, he looked at Tifa and added: "About him."

The glare faded. Tifa opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling fan and dim lights, unmoving. Then she pushed herself up by her elbows and propped herself by her hands. She shivered, feeling the air suddenly go cold. Finally she raised her head and looked at Barret. "…Because I'm scared," she said.

"Don't worry," Barret told her, his voice unusually quiet. "I don't know what happened to Cloud either." Seeing the fear in Tifa's eyes, the big man paused and scratched the back of his head. "Guess I shouldn't be telling you not to worry…" He shook his head. "None of them know if he's all right either."

Tifa looked down at her feet. "He's still… alive, right?" Barret nodded. Tifa took in a deep breath and sighed heavily. After taking a moment to swallow her fears for Cloud and push them aside, she looked up at Barret. "How long… was I asleep?"

"Lesse now……" said Barret, thinking for a moment. "Must've been about 7 days."

"What about Sephiroth?"

"You don't remember?" asked another voice. Tifa turned in the direction of the voice and saw Naruto standing there. He sighed. "Remember that huge light, in the Northern Cave? Since then, the crater's been surrounded by a huge barrier of light. Everyone knows Sephiroth sleeps in that big hole, protected by the barrier."

"We can't do a damn thing about it. We just gotta wait till he wakes up. An' on topa that, some huge monster called Weapon's been on a rampage," finished Barret.

While the two were talking, Tifa swung her legs over the side of the bed and let her feet touch the cold floor. She still wore her diamond-studded battle gloves, she noticed, although one diamond was missing on the left glove, and others were chipped. They would need replacing, though it would be cheaper to simply buy a new set of gloves. Shame—she liked this particular pair. She'd almost forgotten Barret was speaking until she heard him mention Weapon. She looked up.

"…Weapon?" she asked.

"Weapon is a defensive program for the planet. When it senses danger, the monsters awaken to cleanse the world of life. At least, that's what Aeris told me," explained Naruto.

Yes, she did recall that a little. Her memories of the events at the Northern Cave were somewhat sketchy—flashes of images she could just about put into some sensible order. She remembered the giant monsters flying out of the crater… The collapse of the crater, when the crystal holding Sephiroth fell from its nest and into the shadowy depths below… Cloud looking down at her sadly before the rain of mako broke through the nest and swallowed him up…

Tifa bit her lip. She hadn't meant to think of Cloud. But his face… his voice… his eyes… They were always there, in her mind. Try as she might, she could not close the veil to block him out, even for a second. Not that she wanted to forget him. There were other things, things more important than him, which she had to focus on… Like Weapon and Sephiroth. Cloud… He would have to wait. For now…

Closing the veil just enough to shield him from her mind, but leaving enough of his image to make sure she did not forget about him, Tifa turned to Barret. "Weapon… is protecting Sephiroth?" she asked.

Barret shook his head. "Dunno," he admitted. "But he's up here goin' around tearin' shit up. Right now Rufus's fightin' it. I hate to say it, but he's got guts." Tifa slid off the bed and stood up, brushing herself off. While she brushed herself down Barret walked slowly across the room, close to the shuttered windows. He sighed. "We shoulda been the ones to destroy it, but we ain't got no time…"

"Time…" Tifa repeated, thinking. Suddenly, she looked up. "…Hey! How about Meteor?"

Barret stopped next to the last closed window. He looked at Tifa gravely—a silent warning for her to prepare herself. Tifa came to stand beside him. After a moment's pause, Barret pressed a small button at the base of the window. There was a resounding click and the three windows began to open. The metal shutters covering the windows slid up, letting a sea of orange-yellow light flood into the room. Tifa raised her arm to cover her eyes as the warm light fell upon her face. When her eyes adjusted she gazed through the open window and looked to the sky. She gasped.

The sky she looked upon was not the same sky she saw just days before. The normally blue sky had changed into a burning hue of orange-red, making it seem as though the very sky was on fire. The moon was visible in the daytime sky, brought to light by the burning clouds, though the moon itself was just a dark disk covered in shadow in a sea of orange.

But there, directly above them, was the most terrifying sight that Tifa had ever seen in all her twenty years of life. Meteor hung high in the sky, enveloped in a shroud of flames. It was five times larger than the moon and grew bigger with each passing day. It seemed so close and so large that it made Tifa's heart shudder in fright. There was no doubt in her mind that Meteor would fall onto the planet. This was the power of the Black Materia. Its power had drawn this blazing fireball from its path and had brought it on a direct course with their planet. This was what they had fought so hard to prevent.

Fought so hard… And failed.

Tifa lowered her gaze. She could not stand to look at Meteor any longer. Meteor would fall, that was certain. Was it too late to stop it? She clutched at her shirt and felt her quickening heartbeat. Almost choking in her fear at the sight of the descending fireball, she looked at Barret. "Do we have to give up?" she asked him.

Barret looked back at her. The same fear was in his eyes. That scared Tifa, perhaps more so than the sight of Meteor above them. Even Barret, once the leader of a prominent resistance group in Midgar and who was prepared to kill Shinra soldiers for the sake of revenge on his hometown, was afraid of this. Yet, even as he looked at her, she saw him fighting that fear.

"…Dunno," the man answered finally, turning his gaze away. Tifa watched him in silence. This fear was a battle that Barret would fight alone.

"There's still hope. It's not like Meteor has collided with us yet. There's still time for a plan of action." Naruto said. He for one would not give up just because someone put a big ass roadblock in front of him.

As Tifa looked at Naruto the door behind them opened, and Rufus Shinra walked into the room. He entered alone, something that struck Tifa instantly as odd. The Shinra president rarely went anywhere without at least one of his loyal employees around.

There was an immediate rise in tension as the president entered the room. Barret stiffened, instantly on edge in the presence of the most important man in Shinra. He may have praised Rufus less than a minute ago, but that did not mean that the hatred between them was gone. In turn Rufus looked at Barret in disdain. No, Tifa thought, he was not likely to welcome them with open arms.

Rufus stopped next to the bed. After seeing that Tifa was now awake, he crossed his arms and looked at them. "I thought Cloud would show up to save you all…" he said. He sounded disappointed. "Professor Hojo wanted to check up on Cloud, too."

"What are you going to do to Cloud?" demanded Tifa.

"Sephiroth's alter ego…" muttered Rufus quietly. He shut his eyes and looked at the ground, lost in thought. "Meteor has been summoned… Essentially, it's all but over now. So, there's no need for you now." He opened his eyes. His cold blue gaze met Tifa's. "No," he added, almost sinisterly, "maybe there is an important task for you…"

As if on command, Heidegger walked into the room. He moved with a weighty swagger of self-importance, and had such a large, smug smile his beard had difficulty hiding it. He chuckled as he walked. Rufus seemed to be expecting him, for he did not react when the man entered. When Heidegger spoke it was with such a loud, booming voice that anyone on the corridors beyond would have heard him.

"President! Preparations for the public execution are complete."

Barret's jaw fell open. He snapped round to face Rufus, his face turning red in his growing rage. "Execution!?" he bellowed. "What're ya gonna get by executin' us!?" Naruto kept quiet.

A wicked smile spread on Rufus's face. He seemed amused by Barret's anger. "You are to be executed for causing this situation," he said plainly. "People are ignorant. They'll feel better as long as someone is punished."

Barret's fists shook with anger. He was almost spitting in rage—saliva flecked his lips as he struggled to find words strong enough to use against the young president. The words escaped him—there were none strong enough to pierce Rufus's arrogant armour. So he stepped back, swallowed most of his anger, and looked at Naruto.

"I take back what little praise I had for this damn jackass!" was all he could say.

Again Rufus smiled. He seemed very amused indeed by this display of sudden aggression. He ran a hand through his blond hair, brushing back the longer lengths that fell in front of his eyes. "Well," he said smoothly, letting his hand fall, "enjoy your last moments together." With that, the Shinra president left, leaving a stunned Tifa and Barret along with Naruto alone in the room with Heidegger.

Once Rufus left the room, Heidegger turned to the two former resistance members. The same wicked smile was on his face. He got a distinct pleasure out of seeing them squirm over their inevitable fate. "I'll tie your arms now," he said as he approached.

It did not take long to restrain the three of them. Barret attempted to fight back, threatening to take down any soldier who came near him. It took three soldiers to hold him down while the handcuffs were put on, and powerful restraints were tied around his arms to keep them placed firmly behind his back. Tifa and Naruto did not resist at all. They stood in silence as the soldier locked the cuffs around their wrists.

Heidegger took charge in leading the three out of the room where Tifa had been resting and down the stairs toward the execution room. Tifa, Naruto and Barret followed in an almost subdued silence, though they held their heads high in supreme defiance. A single soldier followed close behind, his rifle ready in case there was any resistance.

After descending a few floors the troupe entered the main control room. This was where Heidegger left them, moving away from the group and rejoining Rufus, who had entered just ahead of them. The man followed the president as he went to the front of the room and stopped by a large window that made up the front wall.

As she walked silently around the back of the control room, Tifa turned and glanced out of the window. Beyond the large glass pane she could see an open plain of crystal blue waters. The ocean… Tifa thought quickly. If they were by the ocean, then they were most likely in Junon. Junon was the only sea-faring town she knew of that had a Shinra base. Why were they in Junon and not Midgar, she thought to herself. Surely Rufus would have returned to Midgar, not Junon…

While she was lost in her thoughts, the soldier behind nudged her back with the butt of his rifle. Tifa turned to him defiantly, but could see nothing behind his dark visor. Turning her back on him, she hurried to catch up with Naruto and Barret.

The soldier led them on until they finally arrived at their destination. As they walked through the large double doors they were hit by the sound of chatter and high-pitched laughter, bright lights and the scent of expensive perfume. A number of chairs had been lined up in the centre of the room. A number of people holding microphones were scattered about, and there were others holding cameras. Tifa looked around in puzzlement. What was going on?

The laughter came again, cutting above the sound of the chatter. Naruto groaned. He recognised that laughter. Only one person could make piercing laughter that high-pitched and ear grating.

Scarlet.

"Ah shit," he complained.

The crowd of journalists parted as Naruto, Tifa and Barret were led into the room. Sure enough, the Shinra executive was there, smiling and laughing heartily with a couple of the journalists. Scarlet turned. There was a smug smile on her thick, red lips, and her eyes peered at them in disgust through layers of black mascara and eye shadow. Her dress was neatly pressed, her nails delicately painted. She had certainly prepared for the occasion. This was a moment she was going to enjoy.

Scarlet's eyes stopped on Tifa. The smile widened, revealing such perfectly clean teeth that Tifa felt dirty and common. She scowled back at the executive. How much she wanted to wipe that smug, arrogant smile off that old witch's face!

Scarlet looked at Tifa a moment more, before she turned to the array of journalists gathered around her. "Is everyone here?" she said, her loud voice reaching every corner of the room. She gestured to the three handcuffed prisoners. "These are the ones who brought this madness into the world!"

A number of cameras turned and swivelled round to face them. Barret looked left and right, squinting in the bright lights that were cast over them. Staring at the journalists, he said, "The hell are these people?"

"We will be broadcasting your miserable deaths live on national television," Scarlet replied, without a hint of shame. Clearly she did not care for her 'audience' to hear her describe their deaths as miserable.

One of the journalists, dressed very oddly in a tight suit that clung to his bizarrely short and round body, stepped up to Scarlet. His unusually small, hunched head made him especially odd-looking. "Scarlet," he said in a slightly high, accented voice, "why a public execution in this day and age?"

Scarlet ran a hand through her slick blonde hair as the cameras revolved to face her. After pausing for a second to create a dramatic effect, she said in a smooth, almost charming voice: "With the chaos resulting from the Meteor reports, we desperately need to rally public support… it's better that we punish somebody, anybody."

"You make me sick…" Tifa spat harshly, glaring at Scarlet. It was almost unbelievable that this woman could be so cold!

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" laughed Scarlet, touching her lips delicately with her fingertips as she winked knowingly at the journalists. "They'll never admit it, but everyone loves this stuff!" Naruto glared at Scarlet as he said "Everyone, or just you."

Placing one hand on her hourglass hips, Scarlet spun on her high red heels and pointed at Tifa. "We'll start with this girl."

Barret raged. "If you've gotta do it---do me first!" he roared furiously. He strained his muscles against the cuffs and restraints on his arms and wrists. They did not budge. If only his gun-arm was free… Then he could shower bullets on this useless excuse for Shinra justice.

Naruto decided to but in. "No I'll go first!" Barret looked at Naruto as if he was crazy.

The ninja and AVALANCHE leader's outburst and furious attempt to break free of his shackles seemed to amuse Scarlet. Her red lips parted into a wide grin as she waved excitedly at the cameras, motioning them to turn and record what the men were doing. "Camera, this way!" she exclaimed as she waved. "Make sure you get this, the audience just eats up tearful goodbyes!"

There was nothing Naruto or Barret could do as Scarlet led Tifa away. They watched helplessly as Scarlet and a soldier led their friend to a closed door at the far end of the room. At one point Tifa turned her head and looked back at them. Her eyes were ablaze—she hadn't given up yet. Barret was relieved to see her look so confident in the face of death, but it didn't stop him feeling that he was to blame for her being in this situation.

The soldier unlocked the door, and Scarlet ushered Tifa into the room. It was small, only a box room. It contained only a single chair, with strong metal locks on the arms. Hanging down from the ceiling were a number of pipes—a gas chamber.

Tifa stopped and looked up at the pipes. They stopped directly above the chamber, ensuring that the gas, when flowing, would fall directly over the victim locked in the chair. She swallowed nervously. Seeing her pause, Scarlet shoved her hard toward the chair. Tifa staggered, but kept her balance. She spun round, glaring defiantly.

"What are you doing!?" Tifa snapped.

"This is my special gas chamber," explained Scarlet, waving her hand leisurely toward the chair and pipes. She stepped forward until she was almost nose-to-nose with the younger woman. "Take your time," she said, her voice low and sinister, "and enjoy a slow, painful death."

The soldier, previously standing by the chair, came up behind Tifa and unlocked the handcuffs that bound her wrists. Tifa locked gazes with Scarlet. Suddenly Scarlet reached out and pushed her. Tifa staggered backward. Her heel caught the hard edge of the chair and she fell into the chair, her had banging on the metal back.

While she sat there, dazed, Scarlet and the soldier each took her wrists and placed them into the locks on both arms of the chair. They flipped the metal cuffs over and they clicked into place, preventing her from leaving the chair. Tifa looked up to find Scarlet standing over her, leering down at her with her usual haughty smile.

"Stuck up bitch!!" Scarlet hissed, before giving Tifa a harsh slap across her face.

Scarlet and the soldier left the gas chamber, leaving Tifa sitting in a stunned silence. As the soldier passed, something slipped from his pocket and fell to the floor. He did not notice and left the chamber behind Scarlet, pulling the door shut behind him. The automatic lock sealed the door the moment it clicked into place. As she heard the click that signalled the door's locking, Scarlet sighed in satisfaction.

Rubbing her hands together, Scarlet faced the journalists who stood eagerly in front of her. "Well now, the show's about to begin," she announced. She laughed heartily.

All of a sudden the siren sounded, cutting in over the sound of Scarlet's irksome laughter. The emergency lights began to flash, bathing the room in a cloak of red light. Barret, his arms still in chains, looked around wildly, while the journalists stared at Scarlet in bewilderment. Before she could speak, a computerised voice boomed over the siren's wild blaze.

"_Emergency! Emergency! Weapon's approaching! Attention all military personnel: take your positions!"_

One of the journalists jumped and dropped his microphone. "Oh no!" he wailed, quivering with fright. "It's Weapon! Run!" The man turned and darted toward the door, almost falling over his feet in his panic.

The remaining journalists followed suit, dropping their things and fleeing for the exit as fast as they could. The cameramen, taken over by terror, left their camera behind as they tore out of the doors after their cohorts. They did not even take the time to stop the cameras from filming. Only two soldiers and the bizarre-looking journalist remained, his small head turning left and right wildly.

Scarlet, stunned by the suddenness in which the events were occurring, could only stare as the journalists fled. "Hey, hey, all of you!" she shrieked, but her voice was drowned out by the siren. Furiously she stamped her heel on the ground. "Damn! Why now?" she cursed. When she looked up she saw that the bizarre journalist stood in front of her, his unusually large microphone ready in his hand.

"How does it feel now, Scarlet?" he asked her. He leaned forward, holding his microphone close to Scarlet's face.

Scarlet smiled in approval. "Hmm, so you didn't run?" she asked. "I'm impressed." She took a deep breath, and the man leaned in closer. "How do I feel? Right now……"

With the siren roaring overhead, Scarlet was unable to hear the betraying hiss of gas as it seeped out of the top of the man's microphone. As she spoke she swooned, dizziness and lethargy suddenly overcoming her. She tried to look at the man, but he was blurred and fading in her sight. Then her eyes closed, and she saw no more.

Barret stared as Scarlet suddenly collapsed to the press room floor. At first he thought she was dead. Then he saw her chest rise and fall—she was fast asleep. "Huh!? Sleeping gas?" he said, shaking his head. He looked at the journalist.

The journalist was looking back at him. Barret stared intently at his face. There was something familiar about him—what it was, he couldn't be sure. Suddenly the man spun around, grabbing the suit and pulling it away from him in a single movement. The suit fluttered to the floor. In the journalist's place was a large round Mog, with a mechanical cat sitting on top of its head, looking at Barret through slender slit eyes and a cheerful, happy smile. Cait Sith.

"Weirdo!!"

Cait turned. Until that moment, the two soldiers guarding the door had been watching the events unfold in disbelief. They had seen Scarlet fall but did not move, uncertain as to what they should do. But as they saw Cait reveal himself they jumped up and ran toward him, their rifles ready.

Instantly Cait sprung into action. Guiding the Mog forward, he charged at full speed at the advancing soldiers. The nearest soldier skidded to a stop. He hesitated, and that was his fatal mistake. Cait barrelled forward, using the Mog's speed and weight to carry him forward. He crashed into the soldier, who cried out in surprise and pain as the Mog trampled over him. Standing on the soldier's stomach, the Mog brought its huge fists down on his head. The Shinra soldier gave a stifled groan before his head fell back. The rifle slipped from his hands.

With the first soldier down, Cait turned his attention on the second one. The next soldier was a few metres behind the first, kneeling on the ground as he took aim at the cat. Cait waved his arms frantically before darting to one side, just as the soldier fired. His quick reflexes allowed Cait to dodge the bullet, leaving it to skim the top of the Mog's head. The Mog jumped up and down madly, seemingly in pain.

While the soldier reloaded his rifle, he scanned the room for the cat. There was his fallen companion, Scarlet, the hysterical Mog, and the stunned prisoner. There was no sign of the troublesome cat anywhere. Where had he gone? He walked cautiously forward, continuing to scan the room.

A dark shadow fell from above and landed on his helmet. The soldier began to look up when something hard and heavy smashed onto his helmet. The soldier stiffened and dropped his rifle. The heavy object was smashed again onto his helmet and he fell to his knees. One more whack and the soldier tumbled forward to the ground. Cait jumped off the soldier's shoulders as he fell, spinning his microphone—actually his megaphone in disguise—in his hand. The cat looked at Barret and smiled.

"'Bout time Cait!" called Naruto as he easily stretched and broke the handcuffs that bound him.

Barret could only stare in wonder. Words escaped him—which, for Barret, was quite a first. Of all the people to rescue him, he had never thought it would be this mechanical feline. And Naruto knew this whole time! He tried to speak, but all he could do was open and close his mouth voicelessly. As he stood there, Cait climbed back onto his Mog and calmed it down before bounding over to stand behind Barret.

"I'm here to help!" said the cat. Leaning over, he used his sharp claws to unlock Barret's handcuffs and restraints. The chains fell to the floor.

Barret found his words at last. "Why you……? Ain't you part of Shinra?"

Cait scratched his head nervously. "Let's just say I'm against capital punishment. Besides…" he added, nodding his head toward the sleeping Scarlet, "I hate this broad. Come on, we gotta help Tifa. I'll keep watch at the entrance."

While Cait hopped over to the entrance, Barret ran quickly to the gas chamber doors, nearly running over Scarlet as she lay sprawled on the press room floor. Barret grabbed the door handle and pulled on it. To his surprise the door did not budge, nor did it even rattle. He pulled again, harder, but still nothing. He tugged hard and shook the handle. Nothing.

"It won't open!"

"Let me try," said Naruto as he pulled with all his might. Still the door would not budge. He tried a Rasengan against it but still the door held fast. "That's some damn door!" he exclaimed as he kicked it in anger.

"It's Weapon."

"There have been so many attacks lately. Can we handle it?"

"I believe so. Your orders?"

Rufus turned his gaze to look through the giant glass wall that was the front of Junon Shinra HQ. Beyond the wall was the sea, calm and tranquil, its colour tinted to reflect the deep orange hue that had taken over the sky since Meteor's summoning. The ocean waters seemed still with barely a ripple, giving no trace at all of Weapon's presence. But appearances were deceiving. Weapon was beneath the surface, Rufus knew. A smile tugged at his lips as he looked upon the water.

"No need to ask," was all he said.

Beside him, Heidegger grinned. "We'll give it a shot from our big cannon," he said, and turned to face the three sailors who were standing nervously behind him. As he turned the sailors stood at attention, awaiting their orders. "Open cannon doors!" Heidegger roared, making them jump. "Activate cannon. Target: Weapon!!"

At his command the sailors nodded and ran from the control room, bellowing out the orders to all those who could hear. The words spread quickly all through the room and the rest of the building. Pretty soon the main headquarters was alive with bustle and activity as employees typed furiously into their consoles, shouting commands and confirming actions as they completed them. Satisfied everything was in order, Heidegger turned back to Rufus, who was watching the events through the window.

Outside, Junon was preparing for the imminent attack. The upper town had been evacuated, leaving only Shinra soldiers who ran around preparing the city's defences. Metal plates as thick as trees rose in front of the buildings on the road facing the docks. Giant hooks held the plates in place, securing the buildings against any heavy attack. This defence would hopefully hold against Weapon.

A segment of the main road dipped and was pulled back to slide underneath one of the buildings. The resulting gap contained a hidden cannon, another one of the city's defences, which rose up from beneath to stand in its place. The cannon was pushed to its full height, settling over the road. The long metal barrel swivelled and twisted this way and that before finally settling on the ocean ahead.

The cannon seemed just a mere toy when compared to Junon's main weapon. Another cannon, it was built into the front of the Shinra HQ and made up the majority of Junon's upper levels, almost matching it in size. The powerful steel pistons that held the cannon up heaved and groaned as they strained to push the cannon up and turn so that it faced the ocean. Switches that lined the cannon's side flicked down, marking the cannon as active and ready for battle. The two giant pistons that held up the barrel groaned and released gusts of piping hot steam into the air as they lowered the colossus barrel so that it pointed into the waters ahead.

Junon was ready for battle.

"Preparations complete!" a sailor announced, running to Heidegger.

The man nodded. He did not turn but stood alongside Rufus, glancing at the young president's face to see what his orders were. Rufus's eyes were fixed on the ocean, his lips set in a thin line. A slight nod was all he gave. Heidegger raised his arm. "The cannon… Fire---!!" he shouted, and brought down his arm as the signal to fire.

The cannon fired. The shock caused the cannon to jerk backward so violently it made the entire upper section of Junon shake as though an earthquake had gone off beneath. Black smoke and red flame poured from the cannon's mouth.

The projectile, burning hot and imbued with the power of mako energy, shot rapidly through the air toward the ocean. It moved swiftly, at a steady downward angle, not once wavering or faltering from its course. A long tail of pure mako, so hot it burned white, blazed behind it, leaving a sparkling trail in its wake.

The projectile headed far into the horizon before finally hitting the water.

A loud explosion shook the ocean. A shockwave, causing by the crushing impact of the projectile, spread out across the waters. It was followed just seconds later by a second shockwave, this one in the water itself, spreading out from the point of impact and deep into the ocean. The waters it left behind were flat, without any ripple or swell. It was as though the entire ocean had been flattened where the projectile had hit. After a few tense moments the waters eased, and life returned to it, waves rippling gently beneath the scorched surface.

In the Junon control room it was as though time had come to a stop. All movement ceased as everyone's attention turned to the sea. The computers were silent, their workers abandoning their work to look up and stare through the window. Rufus and Heidegger stood side by side in silence, not saying a word to one another but simply gazing at the ocean before them.

On Junon docks, all was the same. The Shinra soldiers stationed to the docks had ceased all movement. They did not twitch nor turn. They barely even breathed, so focused were they on looking ahead. More than a hundred pairs of eyes stared hard at the ocean waters, waiting for some sign of Weapon's presence. But the ocean remained still, its waters silent and unrevealing.

After what seemed like hours but was only a few seconds tense silence, Rufus looked to Heidegger. "Did we get 'em?" he asked, his voice loud in the eerie silence.

Slowly and unsurely, Heidegger nodded. "Seems so…" he whispered. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the sirens sounded, so suddenly and so loudly that it made him and everyone else in the control room jump out of their skins. The workers leaped back to their computers, throwing on headsets and typing furiously.

"_Weapon approaching!"_ the alarm announced.

"Speed, 50 knots!" called one of the sailors from his console.

"It's heading right toward us!" shouted another.

"It can't be!" said Heidegger, shaking his large head in disbelief. "We hit it dead on!"

Rufus said nothing. When the siren sounded he had turned his attention back to the window, looking out at the ocean before him. He knew Heidegger was wrong. It could be that Weapon had survived the blast from the mako cannon. Though he knew very little about Weapon and what it was, he knew enough to know that it was a beast that would not be destroyed easily. Even as he looked at the ocean now, he could see the far-off ripples that were the telling signs of something large moving beneath the surface. He turned to Heidegger. "How about the cannon?" he asked.

"It'll take time to reload," said Heidegger reproachfully.

"Then use regular firepower in the meantime!" Rufus commanded irritably, turning back to the window.

Heidegger nodded. "Yes sir!" He spun to face the soldiers and sailors who had gathered behind him. "Open all artillery doors!" he bellowed, his voice booming even over the deafening roar of the siren. "Target: Weapon! Don't let it land!"

Beneath the ocean's surface Weapon swam, its gargantuan body barely visible through the rippling water. The ocean's waters swelled above it like a protective mound, and the lash of its tail created a long line of bubbling white froth that wavered and flickered in its wake.

With a sudden surge Weapon rose and broke the surface. Its appearance caused the mound of water flowing over its body to split open, sending showers of large and small water droplets to fall through the air and splash back into the sea. Fins the size of a ship's sails rose and stretched up. Sunlight fell on blue-purple skin that was almost metallic in appearance. The large body of Weapon settled heavily on the water and continued to swim toward Junon.

Seeing Weapon rise, the commanders on Junon's docks gave the order for the cannons to fire. The soldiers standing on the docks looked up as the cannons above them opened fire. The firings of the cannons made the ground shake beneath their feet and their helmets rattle on their heads. Three rows of cannons either side of the main opened fire upon the approaching Weapon. Pretty soon the town was filled with the sight of fire and the deafening roar of the cannons. But each soldier held his ground, holding fast to their weapons and awaiting their orders.

The cannon-fire appeared to be doing little damage. Weapon continued to approach, even as the red-hot cannon pellets struck its body. The majority of the pellets struck the water around Weapon, hitting around it, in front of it, and even behind it. The pellets made the water a churning mass of bubbles and spray, which only served to shield Weapon further from their attack. Those that did hit their target did nothing to slow it down, exploding on its surface and barely even scratching it. Instead it seemed to swim faster, preparing to make its final approach.

Rufus stared in open-mouthed astonishment as he saw Weapon break through the cannon-fire and continue to advance. Even with all Junon's immense firepower raining down on it, the beast—if that's what it truly was—was still heading toward them. The Shinra president did not wait to marvel at this, for he was already running from the control room, with Heidegger running close behind him. Only the Shinra employees remained, shouting out even as their commanders fled the chamber.

"Speed, 70 knots!" one sailor called. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Weapon!! Closing in!!" shouted another.

"No good!!" cried a last one, pointing to the window. "It's attacking!!"

The cannons of the upper levels continued to fire. At the forefront of Junon's defences, a long line of soldiers stood on the main road, anxiously waiting for the signal to fire. One by one they looked to their commander. The commander, seeing the approaching wall of water that was Weapon's shield, raised his arm and barked out that the soldiers prepare to fire. At once the soldiers sank to their knees, raising the heavy guns and resting them on their shoulders.

The commander waited until the last soldier heard the order and was ready to fire, before shouting out another command. The soldiers then opened fire, firing at will.

The bullets from the bazookas joined the endless volley of cannon-fire, whistling in the air before exploding against the wall of water that bubbled around Weapon as it swam forward. It was a futile effort, for the bullets had as little effect as the more powerful cannon-fire that detonated on Weapon's diamond-hard surface.

Despite the shower of bullets and flame, Weapon continued to surge effortlessly through the water. Only its back and its raised fins were visible through the frothing waters, for it had ducked its head beneath the surface to protect itself against the cannon-fire.

As Weapon drew closer and closer, it became clear to the attacking soldiers that Weapon was not going to slow down or stop, but ram into Junon with the intention of crushing the cannons and stopping the assault.

The soldiers waiting on the lower levels, after seeing that Weapon was not going to be stopped, dropped their weapons and fled from the shore. One young soldier was too afraid to run with his comrades and simply dropped to the ground, hiding his face in the dirt as Weapon's shadow loomed over him.

Weapon rose up and slammed into the town. The impact caused the whole town to shake and tremble beneath its ginormous bulk. A giant wave of water fell onto the lower levels, filling the streets with water that swept through the town at an alarming rate. Spray fell over the upper levels and onto the soldiers, who were on their knees and trying to keep from being swept off the road and into the ocean below as the town trembled around them. All they could see before them was Weapon's great back as the beast, after slamming into the town, curled its body up and rolled back under the ocean. The last they saw of the beast was its main fin and tail in the air, the tail swaying as it sank beneath the water and out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2: A Flying Escape

**Chapter 2: A Flying Escape**

As the whole of Junon shook as Weapon crashed into the town, Tifa Lockheart was still locked up inside the gas chamber. Chained by her wrists to the metal chair and unable to move, she had no idea what was going on outside. She heard the sirens and the faint sound of gun and cannon fire, but whether Junon was winning or losing, she could not tell. Twisting her body round, Tifa turned to the door, about to shout and demand some answers, but stopped as she heard a hissing sound behind her. She turned back. The hissing came from the large pipes around her. As she realised this, she smelt the bitter, deadly scent of gas.

"Gas!!" Tifa squirmed in her chair, striving to pull her wrists free of the locks that bound her. She could barely move her arms. "Barret, help!!" she called.

Barret's muffled voice came through the metal door. "Hold your breath!" he told her. "Hold on as long as you can!"

Tifa turned her head away from the pipes. Taking a deep, deep breath, taking in as much free oxygen as she could get before the gas consumed it, she held it deep within her lungs. She could feel the gas blowing hotly across her face, surrounding her, choking her. It would not be too long before the whole chamber was filled with the noxious gas. Tifa twisted her head this way and that and kicked out, her lungs already beginning to burn with the need for more air. "Come on!" she shouted, her feet thudding against the bottom of the chair. "I can't hold on forever!"

Outside, Barret continued to pull on the door. His muscles were burning. Sweat caked his arms and face, and the veins on his neck and arms had risen to the surface. He grunted and groaned with the effort, pulling in every ounce of strength he had to pry open the door and rescue Tifa from her horrible fate. He lodged his gun-arm into the gap between the door and the handle and pulled with all his might.

The door refused to open.

Barret sagged and released the door, his muscles unable to pull anymore. The door would not budge, nor was it giving any signs of it ever moving. Barret snarled angrily and found enough energy to give the door a harsh punch with his good hand—an effort that jarred the muscles of his hand and sent painful shivers up his left arm.

"Shi-!" Barret cursed, more at the door than at his pained hand. He turned away from the door and ran to Cait, who was waiting in the middle of the room, watching him with a thoughtful expression on his furry face. Barret gestured at the door to the gas chamber. "The gas room's probably locked from a different room!"

Cait nodded absently, as though he wasn't really listening but making up his mind about something. Sensing that Barret was rapidly growing irate, the cat quickly sat up straight and nodded confidently. "Hmm, we gotta go with a different plan," he said. He turned the Mog around to face the other door—the one leading outside. "Let's get out of this room first," he said.

Barret eyed the cat suspiciously. Despite Cait's apparent helpfulness, the former AVALANCHE leader could not trust him completely just yet. After a split second's careful thought, Barret turned back to the gas chamber and shouted: "Tifa! I'll help you, I promise!" He then turned back to Cait, who was already moving and bouncing away on his Mog toward the other doors with Naruto behind him. Barret hesitated, and then ran after him.

Barret caught up to Cait just as the cat was about to push on the double doors. They swung open with ease. Cait bounded through and paused in the corridor beyond, waiting for Barret to catch up.

The instant Barret passed through the double doors and entered the corridor, the doors suddenly hummed with life and swung shut. Barret spun around in time to hear a loud click that was the doors locking shut. Running back to the doors, Barret took hold of the handles and pulled with all his strength. But these, like the door to the gas chamber, were locked tight and refused to budge even a millimetre.

"No! They locked this too!" Barret cried, glaring at Cait accusingly over his shoulder.

From the other side of the door, the two heard a familiar, cackling laugh.

"Fools!" they heard Scarlet say. "Now you can't save the girl!

Barret stepped away from the door. Clenching his fist tightly, he slammed it hard against the metal. The sound that came from the blow reverberated down the corridor. Above it was the sound of Scarlet's hideous laughter, mocking and revelling in what she deemed her greatest triumph. There was nothing Barret could do to stop the laughter, or to stop Tifa from suffering the torment of her execution.

"Goddammit……!!" the man cursed fiercely. How he longed to break through these doors and wring Scarlet's skinny neck; watching her eyes go dead as he choked the life out of her. Barret could not forgive himself. It should be him locked in the gas chamber, not Tifa! How could he have let this happen to her? How could Cloud have left them like this—in Shinra's grasp without a hope of saving themselves?

Barret's angry musings were interrupted when he heard Cait's softly spoken words coming from behind him. "Okay, okay," the cat was saying quietly, so no one on the other side of the door could hear him, "time for Plan B. Let's run to the airport!"

Barret came away from the door and looked at Cait in astonishment. "Why the airport?" he demanded angrily. "An' leave Tifa there?" He jabbed his gun-arm at the locked door, where Scarlet's crowing laughter could still be heard over the siren.

Naruto then filled him in. "Cid and the others should of taken over the Airship by now. They're waiting for us. We'll mauver the airship around to get Tifa. Now let's go!" Without waiting for Barret's consent, Naruto and the cat turned and began to move quickly along the corridor.

Barret watched the cat closely, once again trying to decide if the cat was being sincere or whether there was some sinister, devious side to his suggestion. Cait was the one, after all, who had arranged the kidnap and holding of his adopted daughter, Marlene. Cait was the one who had stolen the Keystone from them all those weeks ago and gave it to the Shinra. He was a spy and a traitor. No matter what the cat did to try to repent what he did, he was still an employee of Shinra and thus an enemy.

An image of Tifa flashed through his mind. In his mind's eye he saw, locked inside the gas chamber and unable to get out. Tifa was coughing and choking, dying so horribly slowly as she was forced to breathe the toxic gas that was consuming her. She was on her knees, clawing at the door with trembling hands. She was crying. Her eyes were red and swollen, bulging out of her head as she clawed for air. Those swollen eyes turned to Barret, pleading desperately for him to save her.

That image was enough to make Barret's mind up. He left the door and began to run down the corridor after Cait and Naruto. His pace picked up with each step until he was charging down the corridor, his boots thudding loudly on the concrete floor. He overtook Cait, leaving him behind as he and Naruto sought to make his way out of this building and reach the airport. He didn't know how the airship was going to help, but if there was a chance that it could save Tifa then it was worth a shot.

The three left the Shinra building and came out on the main road beside the dock. The soldiers that had patrolled the streets had now scattered. The only people still on the road was a cameraman and a young reporter, who braved the gunfire and splashing water to film a report on Weapon's attack. Barret paid no attention to her, though the back of his mind said she looked somewhat familiar.

Barret came to a stop and looked up at the orange-red sky that now covered the Planet. Meteor hung like a huge blemish in the sky, forever a reminder of what was to come. For a moment Barret wondered if there was a way to destroy it—to stop what Sephiroth had created. He shook his head. This was no time to be thinking of that! He had to save Tifa. He turned his head away from the sky and was about to run off, when he noticed that the young reporter was standing right in front of him.

"I know you're in a hurry!" said the girl in a high, equally familiar voice. "But, please if I could have a word……"

Barret raised his fists threateningly. "Shu'up!" he snapped. "I'm in a hurry!"

At his words the girl jumped back in fright, almost dropping her microphone. She quickly caught it and held it close to her chest, glaring at Barret. "Don't make so much noise," she scolded Barret sternly. "……It's me, ME! Yuffie!" Pulling away part of her disguise, she grinned at Barret.

Barret finally recognised the young ninja. "The hell you doin' here!?" he demanded.

Before Yuffie could answer, a loud explosion shook the town. The road shook beneath them, causing Naruto, Barret, Cait and Yuffie to totter and stumble. Cait rolled off the back of his Mog, catching hold of the Mog's back and holding on as the shaking continued. Naruto and Yuffie's ninja skills allowed them to quickly regain their balance, and they both turned to look at the ocean.

More soldiers stopped to look as they saw Weapon begin to rise out of the water. The monstrous form of Weapon rose out of the ocean, water slicking over its blue-purple body as it rose slowly and steadily. Its head rose, small in comparison to the rest of its body, but no one paid any attention to that. A long upturned triangle of flesh or metal shielded the lower half of Weapon's face. Two large yellow eyes with cat-like pupils stared menacingly on Junon. These ominous eyes gazed intently over the town, taking in every sight and locating the vital spots.

Yuffie turned away from the docks. Her face was pale. "I'll explain later!" she said, her voice trembling. "Now we gotta get to the airport!" Throwing down her microphone to the ground, she began to strip off her reporter's guise and return to her true form. Barret began to wonder what the ninja had done with her shuriken, when he saw that it was strapped to her leg. Yuffie had disassembled the razor ring when donning her disguise, keeping the pieces close to her body should she have need of them. Now she worked to put the pieces back together even as she followed Naruto, Barret and Cait as they ran down the road toward the airport.

Naruto dug into his pocket and extracted his phone which he had liberated from one of the soldiers in the broadcast room along with all his other effects. He dialled Gaara's number and set the speaker phone on. Gaara answered quickly, as if he had been expecting the call.

"_Is it time?"_ he asked.

"Yeah! Get Cid to warm up the engine cause we're taking off as soon as we get there!"

"_Rodger!"_ the phone went silent, indicating that Gaara had hung up.

The group were just starting to think that they would reach the airport without incident when they ran into a trio of soldiers. The soldiers were trying unsuccessfully to reassemble one of the smaller attack units that had been damaged when Weapon crashed into the town. The machine, called Death Machine, was smoking heavily and was clearly beyond repair.

One of the soldiers looked up as the three companions approached. He recognised them instantly and called to his comrades, who came away from the Death Machine and picked up their rifles. They opened fire upon the three.

The three came to a stop, raising their arms to shield themselves as the bullets flew past them. The soldiers were so nervous as a result of Weapon's assault that they could not aim straight, and as such were unable to hit the three directly. But the bullets whizzed past as such an alarming rate that they were just as dangerous.

The last piece of the razor ring clicked back into place. After spotting a gap in the flurry of bullets, the ninja flung her shuriken away from her. The shuriken zipped through the air in a straight line toward the nearest of the soldiers. It struck the soldier's rifle, jarring it from his hands where it clattered to the floor. The shuriken then twisted around and caught the second soldier in the side of his helmet, stunning him. The weapon then spun and made its way back to Yuffie, who caught it.

"Katon: Goukaku no Jutsu!" called Naruto as he took a deep breath. A huge fireball, while it did not reach them, sure as hell scared them. He stopped the technique for Barret to have his turn. Raising his gun-arm, he took aim not at the soldiers but at the damaged Death Machine that was smoking behind them. He let loose a continuous flood of bullets. The Death Machine shuddered as the bullets struck. When Barret stopped the machine laid still, electricity crackling over its body.

The robot juddered and began to stand. With each movement there came the grate of metal on metal, and sparks flew from its damaged interior. It was so alive with electricity that Yuffie could feel the hair on her neck standing on end. But the soldiers, so preoccupied with rearming their weapons, did not notice as the robot lumbered up behind them.

"Hey, look behind you, bozos!" called Yuffie.

One of the soldiers turned. At the sight of the malfunctioning robot looming over him, he gave a petrified cry and dropped his weapon to the ground. Pushing past his two comrades he fled from it, running past Barret and Cait in the process. The other two soldiers then turned and followed suit, screaming in terror as the broken robot came to a stop, gave another final shudder, and then exploded where it stood.

Barret and his two companions once more raised their arms to shield themselves as hot flames and smouldering robot parts were sent flying through the air. The road became clogged with smoke. The flames were hot against their skin, the smoke choking their every breath. But the wind soon blew the smoke and flames clear and the four ran on, leaping over the charred remains of the Death Machine as they continued on their way.

The rest of the route to the airport was an easy one. None of the soldiers left on the road dared to oppose them. Most of them were too busy doing other things to take any notice of the escapees. Those who did notice were too scared to do anything to stop them. A single look into Barret's angry eyes and Yuffie, Naruto and Cait's fierce expressions were enough to send them fleeing back to their commanders.

They stormed the building that led to the airport. The few soldiers left guarding the building pressed themselves against the walls in fear as the four charged in, weapons drawn, with Barret yelling commands that they had better not interfere. No one did, and the four quickly headed for the airfield.

Cait led the way over to the cargo lift. Motioning for Barret, Naruto and Yuffie to hurry up and get on, he stamped his foot down on the 'On' button. The lift shuddered and began to rise, carrying the three up to the top level where the airships were docked. When the lift finally came to a stop the three jumped off and ran across the platform.

The airship was docked at the far end of the airport. It was the same airship that Rufus and his company had used to travel to the far northern caves and bring them all back to Junon. The propellers were spinning very quickly, even though it was in standby.

"Hey guys! Up here!"

The four looked toward the airship to see Aeris waving. "C'mon! Get on!" Not needing to be told twice Naruto and Yuffie started climbing the ladder swiftly. Barret and Cait were a little slow but they managed to get to the platform. Aeris smiled warmly before noticing something. "Where's Tifa?"

Barret explained as Naruto ran to the bridge. There in the pilot spot was Cid.

"Cid, Tifa is still trapped in Junon. Can you fly round and see if you can rip open a hole in the side of the building?" said Naruto quickly.

"Can do! Hold on tight and we'll….. What the hell?! What's that!?" Cid said, pointing to the front. Naruto looked as well.

Weapon continued to stare at Junon, glaring at the town through yellow eyes filled with hatred and contempt. The large monster finally chose its target. It lowered the large shield that masked the lower half of its face, revealing a large gaping mouth that was not filled with teeth but large, jagged bits of metallic flesh. Weapon lifted its head clear of the shield, its frightening mouth opened wide, and turned it on Junon.

A glow began to form deep within Weapon's jaws. The light was faint at first but rapidly growing brighter, filling Weapon's entire mouth, glowing like a beacon in the middle of the ocean. The monster narrowed its eyes and drew back its head as the blaze grew brighter still, and becoming so fiercely hot that the air around it began to waver and ripple like the waters it surrounded.

When Weapon was ready it thrust its head forward, and a narrow beam of blue light fired from the monster's open mouth. The blast was so powerful even Weapon struggled to control it; its head shook as it fought to keep the beam under control and on target. The energy beam fell upon the base of Junon's main control tower, cutting a long, jagged gash through the thick metal and leaving a gaping hole in the side of the tower. Thankfully for the town the beam did not burn any further than that, but it left that part of the tower vulnerable to another strike.

Weapon was preparing another strike. Its head tilted as it took aim, stretching its monstrous maw wide. The inside of its mouth began to glow brightly once again, so bright even Weapon had to narrow its eyes to protect it from the light. Weapon drew its body back, preparing for the blow.

Weapon was just about to fire again when the mako cannon suddenly fired and hit the monster right in the middle of its hideous face. The monster was forced backward, smoke and flames engulfing the upper half of its body and shards of broken flesh falling to the water. Its two large fins fell limp at its side as Weapon began to tumble over, sinking headfirst into the safety of the ocean waters. From there it disappeared beneath the surface, either horribly wounded or dead.

"That's made it a lot easier," mumbled Cid as he piloted the airship round Junon. Naruto spotted something and looked closer. "It's Tifa. Cid, mauver the ship to just under the edge of the cannon. I'm going outside."

"You got it! Take care!" called Cid as Naruto ran outside.

Tifa was about halfway down the wall when she heard a shout from above. Looking up, she saw Scarlet standing on the edge of the gash leading into the gas chamber. She was screaming in rage and pointing at Tifa. Two soldiers came out of the chamber behind her and began to scramble over the ridge.

Tifa put her head down and began to climb down faster. She kept her gaze fixed on the wall, determined not to let either the height or the advancing soldiers stop her from making her escape.

Tifa reached the end of the wall, which joined onto the heavy machinery that held the giant mako cannon in place. The fighter leapt the last few feet and landed on the machine, which hummed beneath her feet. She did not stop and began to run away from the wall, scrambling over the rises and falls, jumping over the joints and pipes, heading for the barrel. When she reached the barrel she leapt onto it, almost losing her balance on its smooth surface.

Tifa finally came to a stop at the far end of the cannon's shaft. She realised her mistake instantly. By coming down the cannon's shaft, she had left herself with nowhere else left to run. Behind her was a sure path right back into a Shinra dungeon, or worse, another execution chamber. Ahead of her was the end of the shaft and a long drop into the raging ocean below. Tifa took a step back away from the edge, preparing to turn and attempt to make a break for it, when she heard Scarlet's insufferable voice coming from behind her.

"Our little game of hide and seek ends here."

Slowly Tifa turned, sighing heavily as she spotted Scarlet walking up the shaft. The woman had her hands on her hips and walked with a definite swagger, hips swaying as she walked up the shaft toward Tifa. Her expression was a smug one, lips pressed together in a thin, wide smile, eyes glazed in the moment of glory. And she had a right to be smug, for Tifa had nowhere else left to run. The two soldiers walked up a few feet behind Scarlet, ready to catch Tifa if she tried to run.

Scarlet stopped in front of Tifa. The woman was so close Tifa could smell her perfume. A nice fragrance, she thought. Shame it was on such an evil witch.

Scarlet flicked her hair out of her eyes. "The execution may have been unsuccessful," she began, her voice smooth and callous, "but your death by falling from here and crashing into the water below might still be pretty exciting."

She stopped when she saw that Tifa was not listening. The younger woman was wiping her boot against the back of her leg, her arms behind her back, not looking at Scarlet, making a show of the fact that she was not paying attention. Scarlet's face twitched. Walking up to Tifa, she slapped her hard across the face. Tifa staggered and nearly lost her balance, holding her cheek in her hand.

"Stuck up to the end!" hissed Scarlet.

Tifa looked down at her hand. Four specks of blood stained her fingers where Scarlet's long, painted nails had cut through the skin. Tifa looked up, eyes blazing.

"Quit slapping me! You old wench!!!"

Tifa stood straight and brought her hand up, striking Scarlet across her face. She did not draw blood, but she slapped hard enough to make Scarlet fall back. Scarlet brought her hand, trembling, to her face. She winced at the soreness of the skin, and her lips turned down into a fierce scowl. Raising her fist she returned the slap.

This time Tifa was ready for her. She did not defend herself but allowed Scarlet's hand to strike her face, making her cheek sting painfully. Tifa did not stagger and kept her balance. The moment Scarlet's hand left her face Tifa caught hold of it with her left hand, tugging Scarlet toward her. With her right hand she then slapped Scarlet repeatedly, literally wiping the smirk from her face. After the third strike Tifa let go and Scarlet fell onto the floor, her hair over her face, her cheek red and sore.

"God! I can't stand it," wailed Scarlet, sobbing. She spent a few moments pushing her hair away from her face, trying to sort it orderly behind her head. After regaining her composure and trying to restore a little of her glamour, she stood up and faced the anxious soldiers behind her. "Take her away," she ordered. As the soldiers came forward, Scarlet turned back to Tifa, the smug smile once more on her face. "Now it's time to pay up. I'll really drop you if you don't settle down!" She laughed.

Tifa grunted as the soldiers came forward. There was no point in her trying to run. She would not make it past Scarlet _and_ the soldiers, and the only other way led to a sure death crashing into the ocean. She was just about to concede defeat and allow the soldiers to arrest her, when she heard a voice speak faintly…

_Run…_

Surprised, Tifa looked up and around her, wondering where the voice had come from. The voice was strangely familiar. She looked at the soldiers advancing on her. She looked at Scarlet, staring at her through wild eyes and laughing in delight. None of them had spoken, so who…?

_Run to the end of the cannon!!!_

Tifa obeyed at once, turning away from the soldiers and starting to run rapidly down the shaft toward the end of the cannon. She was running to certain death, of that she was sure of, but even if she did die, she would at least die with the satisfaction that she did not die at Scarlet's hands. The soldiers made no attempt to hurry after her—after all, where could she go?

Then a whirring noise began to sound, faint at first but swiftly growing louder, as though something large and powerful was approaching. Tifa and the soldiers skidded to a stop and looked ahead in complete wonder and surprise as a Shinra airship suddenly rose from beneath the cannon, rising slowly and hovering next to it. Painted in red paint across the side of the airship was the name 'Highwind', along with a picture of a woman dressed in a red bikini and with long, flowing red hair.

Standing on the airship's outer deck was Barret and Naruto. The big man jumped up as he saw Tifa, waving his arms at her and shouting for her to run. Tifa complied, beginning to run for the cannon's edge even as the soldiers and Scarlet continued to stare in amazement.

The airship began to rise. Naruto took hold of the long length of strong rope and threw it over the side of the ship. The rope slid down the side of the ship, falling past the cannon and swaying barely within reach of the cannon.

The soldiers had noticed Tifa was running now and quickly chased after her, trying to catch up to her before she could reach the rope and escape. Tifa glanced over her shoulder, saw the soldiers catching up to her, and tried her hardest to run faster. As she neared the end of the cannon she stretched her arms out, trying to grab hold of the rope as it swayed just within reach. But by the time she reached the end and jumped off, the rope had swayed out of reach again and she fell.

Tifa fell, her arms stretched up to the sky as she saw the airship rising rapidly away from her. The rope came within reach again and she quickly caught hold, sliding down a good few metres before she was able to get a secure hold. The rope burned through her leather gloves—she could feel the heat in her palms. But she did not let go and held on tight as the rope swayed perilously back and forth. On deck Naruto and Barret gripped the other end of the rope tightly, determined not to let go and let Tifa fall.

Naruto shouted out an order and the ship began to move, flying away from Junon and heading out across the sea and into the horizon, carrying Tifa with it.

"You okay?" asked Barret.

Tifa was sat on deck, catching her breath after her terrifying ordeal. Her hands burned from holding onto the rope, and her cheek stung as a cold wind blew across her face. Her eyes were bleary from the wind—so she told herself—and she could barely make out the forms of Barret, Naruto and Cait as they stood around her.

"My cheek hurts a bit," she admitted, rubbing at her sore cheek. The bleeding had stopped, though she would have a reminder of Scarlet for a few days. Tifa was not too bothered—Scarlet would have marks for a good while longer. Tifa wiped her eyes, and looked up at the two. "Forget about that, what's all this about?"

"We nicked the 'Highwind' so now we can go anywhere we want to," said Naruto. With that he and Cait turned and walked away. Barret waited before following them. Tifa stared as the three disappeared through a door.

Tifa headed for the door leading into the ship. She was just about to take hold of the handle when a loud moaning, groaning sound cut through the roaring of the wind blowing through the propellers that powered the ship. Stepping away from the door Tifa turned and looked about the upper deck, until she spotted the source of the slurred groaning.

It was Yuffie. The young Wutai ninja was slumped heavily against the rails bordering the deck, her head leaning over the side. Her face was pale, with a green tinge to it, and she had one hand clamped tightly over her mouth as she groaned. Remembering the ninja's abhorrence to travel other than by foot, Tifa kept a wide berth and slid through the door and descended down the stairs leading into the ship.

When she walked inside she was hit with choking smell of oil and heavy machinery. The sound of the engines whirring and humming drummed loudly inside her head, making the blood pound. Tifa groaned and put a hand to her head, wishing that the noise would stop. The stench of the oil made her cough and didn't help her already pessimistic mood, but she tried to put all these thoughts aside as she descended the stairs and headed toward one of the bridges. Cait turned the Mog around. "Come on! Everyone is waiting!" The Mog hopped away, going up a set of stairs and disappearing through the door. Barret followed, not noticing Tifa standing at the end of the bridge.

"Everyone? Everyone is here?" said Tifa to herself. For an instant her heart lifted and she tore down the bridge, boots clattering on the metal grating, and leapt up the stairs. She burst onto the deck beyond and skidded to a stop, her heart falling.

Everyone was not there. She looked around and saw all of her friends. She saw Barret and Cait; Barret heading toward his spot at the front of the deck. She saw Vincent standing with Naruto, Gaara, Aeris and Nanaki on the far side of the deck.

She saw Cid, standing proudly at the ship's helm. He was looking over the shoulder of a young man dressed in a Shinra air uniform, criticising him quite harshly about his sloppy piloting skills. Two more Shinra workers were standing at another console near to Tifa. They glanced at her as she walked in. Tifa looked back. They did not look like prisoners.

Cid turned away from the nervous young pilot and spotted Tifa standing near the entrance of the deck, looking around. Putting out his cigarette and putting the half-smoked butt behind his ear, he ran up to Tifa and gestured to the deck. "Welcome to my airship—the Highwind!" Cid announced proudly.

Everyone turned to Tifa as she walked forward slowly toward the centre of the deck. Her head turned this way and that, looking around without enthusiasm. When she finished scanning the deck she turned to the face the spot near to where Barret stood, and her face fell. That was where Cloud should have been standing. Cloud should have been the one to rescue her, to lead the way. Cloud should be standing there now, telling them what they should do, where to go.

Cid watched her as her face fell, and he tapped his foot in annoyance. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice harsh. "You should be more excited than that!"

Nanaki looked up at him. "Cid……" he said softly. Giving the pilot a gentle nudge with his paw, the hound shook his head. Cid stared, then his eyes opened wide as he realised what the hound was saying. He gave Tifa an apologetic glance and scratched the back of his head, bowing awkwardly.

"Yeah……" said the pilot with a blush.

Tifa was paying no attention to the conversation. She continued to look at that one spot at the front of the deck. She could almost picture him standing there with a hand on his hip, gazing out of the window with that serious look he always wore, like he carried the troubles of the whole planet on his shoulders and no one was allowed to help share the load. After thinking about it all for a long time, he would turn to her and tell her it was going to be all right, saying it as though it was nothing. Even though inside, he was being torn apart by his suspicions of the truth. Tifa sighed. There was nothing she could do about it now. After taking one final look at the deck, she turned her eyes away and looked at Cid. "Not enough crew," she said quietly.

"Well, it takes all kinds," said Cid. He nodded his head toward the three Shinra employees that were piloting the ship.

"……So glad you're all right, Tifa," said Vincent. Tifa gave him a small nod. She then turned to Cait, who was hopping up behind her.

"Tifa, I'll give you information on Shinra," he said. Standing up, he patted his furry chest. "Ask me if there's anything you don't understand."

Tifa was just about to ask him a question about why he was being so helpful when she felt a large paw pat her leg. She looked down to see Nanaki standing next to her. He gazed up at her with his one good eye and asked the question she had been dreading answering. "Do you think we aren't strong enough without Cloud?" he asked. "Do you think we can't save the Planet alone?"

Sighing, Tifa went to the front of the deck. She pressed her hand against the glass wall and peered out at the ocean as it rushed by. They were on an airship owned by the Shinra, flying to who knew where, without a clue what to do. She turned her eyes from the water and looked up at the sky. The skies were darkening to a deeper orange as day headed into night. Even Meteor was beginning to fade now, swallowed up by the darkness of night. But it would return again when the sun rose.

"Meteor is coming," she began, her eyes fixed on the evening sky above, "and Weapon is on the rampage…… At a time like this, I don't know what I'm supposed to do…… No idea at all……" Sighing again, she closed her eyes.

"Get a hold of yourself, Tifa!" said Barret. He turned to the others gathered on the deck—except for Yuffie, who was still on the outer deck praying she didn't lose her lunch. "C'mon, let's think about this! No way we can get offa this train we're on!"

Aeris walked up to Tifa. "You're not the only one to miss him. I'm worried too, really worried."

Tifa didn't answer Aeris. Instead she just continued to convey her feelings. "……If only Cloud were here, everything would be fine," said Tifa softly, just loud enough for the others to hear. "Cloud would… stand that cocky little way he did, and tell us what to do. He'd say 'Everything's under control, Tifa.'" She smiled at the memory.

"What a load of bullshit," said Naruto. Barret nodded. "Yeah! When'd you become such a wimp!"

"……I know," interrupted Tifa, cutting him off. She did not need Barret to remind her that it was because of her everyone believed that the spiky young blond with the glowing mako eyes was the real Cloud Strife. Even then, she was not totally convinced. "That's why I want to make sure. That's why I have to see him again."

"Cheer up, Tifa……" said Nanaki kindly.

"I want you to know I didn't dislike him," said Cid to Tifa, taking his half-smoked cigarette out from behind his ear and popping it in his mouth, holding it firmly between his teeth. "Gotta admit he was a strange dude. Just when you thought he was cool, he'd go and do some damn fool thing." He took out his lighter and lit the cigarette. "And when you thought he was smart, he'd show how stupid he was." He took a deep puff. "Everything about him from his movements to his speech were kinda odd. Knowin' what I do now, I can see why he was that way. Well, as long as you stay alive, you just might see him again someday, so cheer up, sis."

Tifa thought about what he said, and then nodded. "……I'll be able to see him again someday," she said, this time with more confidence.

"Absolutely! Cloud's not gone permanently. Though I think it's time I tell you the rest of my story," said Naruto. Everyone looked at him. Naruto braced himself and started from the start.


	3. Chapter 3: Mako Poisoning

**Chapter 3: Mako Poisoning**

"Well, when I was getting a history lesson before I came here, I learned about Cloud… and about Zack," he said. Aeris gasped softly. Naruto looked at her sadly. "Zack and Cloud were captured after facing off with Sephiroth in Nibelheim. Sephiroth's 'evil' persona had already replaced the real Sephiroth and so that's why he turned on the townspeople. After the battle they were held by Hojo and kept in glass tanks that were filled with mako. Now when the two came to Nibelheim, Zack was SOLDIER 1st Class but Cloud was just a grunt, part of Zack's squad. And as such he could not handle the massive amounts of mako around him." Naruto took a breather and looked around him. Everyone was listening in. Aeris was on the verge of having tears falling out of her eyes. And Tifa was in no better condition.

"Not only were these two exposed to medium level mako but Hojo injected Jenova cells into the both of them. Zack, being much stronger and used to mako, wasn't affected by the change but Cloud wasn't as lucky. Four years passed and somehow Zack was able to break out of his tank. He then took Cloud, who had mako poisoning which meant he couldn't support himself, and escaped Shinra Mansion. They were hunted every step of the way. Gaara and I met up with them near Midgar. We were all going to set up a mercenary business. All this time the Jenova cells were creating a false persona in Cloud. The persona was based of Zack. His fighting style, habits, speech patterns and memories. Especially about Nibelheim. While Jenova switched things around it also left big gaps in his memory. Like how he 'became' SOLDIER. Since the cells couldn't access Zacks memories of being in the elite group the cells had no choice but to leave that section empty.

"As we were travelling to Midgar we ran into some trouble. Snipers were posted alongside the road set to take them down. Zack noticed it first and went to cover Cloud. The bullet struck Zack in the back and killed him. I maybe good but I can't catch a bullet. We buried Zack on an outcropping overlooking Midgar. Then me, Gaara and Cloud entered Midgar. We were dropped off at Sector 7 Station and had only been there for a few minutes when Tifa found us." He turned to Aeris. "I'm sorry Aeris," he said sadly. Aeris shook her head. "It's all right. Somehow I already knew. I felt his spirit reach out to me before it descended into the Lifestream."

Naruto smiled at her. "Would you like to talk to him? My phone can reach people who have already passed away. He actually called me when we were at Cosmo Canyon." Aeris' eyes opened wide and she nodded quickly. Naruto then fished out his phone and went through his recent calls list. He found the number that was registered when Zack called and pressed the call button. He set the loudspeaker on and waited.

"_Ring…ring…………….ring…ring………….click, Hello, this is the incredibly handsome Zack Fair speaking,"_

Aeris' eyes widened even more. Naruto smiled and said, "Hey Zack! Naruto here,"

"_Naruto! What you been up to?"_

"Kicking monster ass, pissing off the Shinra, you know, the usual. Anyway, there's someone who wants to talk to you," said Naruto as he handed the phone to Aeris.

"U-um, Zack?" she stuttered.

"_Aeris? Is that you?" _said Zack, his voice sounding surprised.

"Yeah," Aeris answered.

"………_Well, this is awkward. I suppose that Naruto has told you the whole story?"_

"Yes,"

"Zack, some things have happened," said Naruto and he told everything that had happened so far. When he had finished, Zack confirmed that Cloud had not died.

"_I would know, being dead and all," _Zack finished up. _"As with trying to find him, you should check out Mideel. Where are you now?"_

"We're just drifting round the Junon area," answered Naruto.

"_Mideel is South-East of your current position. The town is on a long strip of land, you'll be able to see it from the Highwind,"_

"Thanks but how do you know that Cloud will be there?" asked Tifa.

"_I don't. It's just that there's been strong lifestream activity near the island in the past week. It's quite possible that Cloud washed up on the shore there,"_

"Thanks. We'll check it out," replied Naruto.

"_Aeris, I want you to take care of Cloud ok?"_

"Of course," said Aeris with a light blush on her cheeks.

"_Ok. Bye everyone! Talk to you soon!"_ said Zack cheerfully before he hung up. There was a long silence.

Naruto tucked away his phone and looked out of the window. The land was crawling by slowly. By now it was completely dark. In the distance he saw a structure jutting out of the ground. It looked to be some sort of tower or fort of some kind. On top nestled a big bird. It seemed to be sleeping. Naruto turned to Tifa.

"Let's get some sleep for the night. It's been hectic for a while. We'll go to Mideel in the morning when were more focused," Naruto suggested. Tifa was about to argue but saw everyone's tired face. She herself was sleepy from all the action. She nodded.

Cid directed the ship to settle on an island near where the ancient temple used to be. Since there were no sleeping quarters on the ship the party of ten plus the crew got out tents from storage rooms placed around the airship and tucked in for the night.

*********

Naruto yawned loudly as he slowly woke up. Looking around the tent he saw Gaara and Vincent sleeping next to him. Judging by the lack of light shining through the tent, Naruto guessed that it was early morning. Since now he was awake, the blond slowly got out of his sleeping bag, got dressed into his pants and unfolded the tent flap. He almost stepped on Nanaki's tail as he was crawling out of the tent.

Outside it was still slightly dark, the sky not yet orange from Meteor. Cid had parked the airship on the west side of the island, near the sea. Naruto walked down to the beach. Small waves were crashing on the shore, a sound that was still unique for him. Getting out his phone and choosing a song, he set the electronic object on a New Age song. He then summoned his sword and slammed it into the sand. He then waited for the music to start. The song Return To Innocence by Enigma floated out of the speaker. Naruto then started to perform a series of flowing moves, similar to Tai Chi, only much more like water than the original style.

Kyuubi was woken up to see Naruto moving in such a way that she was stunned. After a few seconds, she contacted Nibi to wake Gaara and for him to wake everyone else and to bring them all down to see what she was seeing. After a few minutes Gaara, Cid, Barret, Tifa, Aeris, Cait, Nanaki, Vincent and Yuffie were hiding behind brushes as they watched the beautiful flowing dance that Naruto was showing them. The music fell silent, only to rise again in the song Beautiful Day by U2. Naruto then seemed to go to his second Kikangan stage and he transformed. He continued the martial dance while the golden chakra flared around him. His moves then picked up speed and the ninja focused the golden energy into his hands. As he moved them, the chakra left a long glittering trail behind. He then levelled out the speed and continued until the song finished. When the last cord was played Naruto stood still as the sun rose from behind the people watching him as the music changed to something new. Under a New Moon by Fatty Acid, sephfire (From the OC Remix site) sounded out of the phone as the suns light caught his chakra, making him shine in light. Naruto then manipulated his golden chakra to swirl around him in a manner no-one had ever seen before. It was as if small rivers of liquid gold were flowing and intertwining through the air. He then spread his arms and the small streams of chakra split into small spheres and floated around him slowly while pulsing in time to the beat. All the while he had his eyes closed.

After the song, Naruto released his bloodline limit and sat down when the song Not an Angel by Tsuneo Imahori from Trigun - the first donuts played. He stayed still in meditation for the song before closing the phone to continue his meditation in silence, just listening to the waves and wind; the faint cry of seagulls in the distance. After a while his audience quietly left him alone to get a few more minutes of sleep before leaving for Mideel.

*********

'Man I feel good. I haven't done that for a while. I feel so much better,' Naruto thought as he made his way back to the airship. 'Ever since Kyuu-chan said I was stressed I haven't been able to do my old exercises until now. Even in the week while Tifa was unconscious, I still wasn't able to relax cause Shinra was all around us. Now I feel much better. Doing it to music made it even better.' Naruto broke off his private thoughts when he reached the camp. Everyone was packing up and they all turned to see Naruto walk in. The blond ninja felt uncomfortable under their stares.

"What? Is something on my face?" he asked. Everyone said at the same time, "No, it's nothing," before going back to what they were doing. Suspicious, Naruto looked around at everyone before dismissing it and helping out with the packing up.

After all had been packed and put away, the team boarded the airship once again. Since the airship had been on standby since the guys began to pack up, there was no need to wait and so Cid piloted the Highwind to Mideel.

Looking out of the wide window in the front, Naruto saw the forest give way to sea. To the right of him was a large strip of land with what looked like dense jungle. He turned to the pilot.

"Hey Cid, turn to the left. Mideel should be on that island," he said. Cid nodded and adjusted his angle. It wasn't long before they were over the land. Looking ahead, Naruto spotted a cleared area with a few buildings poking out over the trees. Further ahead was a spot to settle the airship down.

*********

The outlay of the town was nice as Naruto, Tifa, Aeris, Barret, Vincent and Nanaki walked in. The first thing they saw was a small items shop on the right. Two wooden structures held up a bridge that stretched across the entrance. An old man was sitting against the left wooden support. As the group wandered into town he called out to them.

"Hey youngsters!" he said and waved his hand over to them.

'I guess we do look like youngsters to him,' thought Naruto as he looked at the many wrinkles the man had. Kyuubi giggled softly.

Once the party had moved over to the guy he looked at us more closely. He took one look at Tifa in her very short skirt and her large assets and grinned. "Ahoy! Hey ain't you a beaut!" he said as he grinned a perverts grin. (AN: Picture him with a Master Roshi grin from Dragon Ball Z when he tries to make a pass at either Chichi, Bulma, or 18. He he he.) The old man continued to talk while he was staring at Tifa, making her uncomfortable. "This here's Mideel. It's a quiet little Hot Springs town." His grin got wider as he mentioned the words 'Hot Springs'. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he remembered that Ero-sennin had the exact same grin on his face when he was talking about the exact same thing. He then deducted that the old man was up to no good. Apparently Barret arrived at the same answer and he stood in front of Tifa and flexed his muscles in a threatening way. The old man got the message instantly and coughed nervously. "Just the perfect place for old folks like me to live out our lives," he finished off quickly.

The group moved off but the old man waved Naruto back. "I hear that things ain't so peaceful on the outside," he said this with a questioning tone. Naruto nodded. The old man sighed. "Well here it's still nice and quiet. But I have a feeling that the tranquillity that flows through here will disappear soon." He then leaned back against the pole and closed his eyes.

"Naruto! C'mon!" shouted Barret. Naruto looked back and walked over to where the others were at.

Having another look around Naruto noticed that all the buildings here were made out of wood. Not stone like at Cosmo Canyon or bricks like Kalm. There were what used to be a paved path through the town but was now semi-covered by a thick layer of dust and soil. A small cat was sitting near the others with a lost look on its face. Tifa noticed the cat and squatted down to pet it. "What's the matter? Are you all alone?" she asked the cat. It mewed softly as if to agree. Tifa smiled sadly. "You got lost didn't you? Separated from someone you love…?" she asked. She then shook her head slightly as if she realised that she was talking to a cat. "Silly thing…" she mumbled, half to herself and half to the cat.

As Naruto was watching this, his enhanced hearing caught a conversation between two men, younger than the lecher by the gate.

"……guess it's been about a week now since he washed up here on the shore… Poor pokey-headed young thing…" Naruto now turned his full attention on the conversation while Tifa continued to scratch the cat's ears.

"It was really sad… but weird. He was holding this really long sword. I dunno. The whole thing feels unlucky to me. But the amazing thing was those weird blue eyes…" That was all that Naruto had to know as he walked up to the two men. "Where would that man you were talking about be?" he asked. The one who spoke said, "Um… up ahead here… At the…" here he paused slightly, as if he were a little nervous. "Uh… clinic……" he finished. He pointed at a building further along the path. Naruto thanked him and ran to the clinic. Aeris, who saw Naruto running, followed after him.

The inside of the clinic was slightly cluttered. Medical equipment was all over the place. The building was split into two rooms. A man with greenish brown hair and glasses who was dressed in a doctor's outfit was on the other side of the room's entrance. "Doc," said Naruto but he heard footsteps behind him. Looking over his shoulder he saw Aeris. Meanwhile the doctor had turned around from his work and faced the blond. "Yes?" he asked politely. Naruto turned back to him. "Doc, I heard that you're taking care of someone who might be my friend?" Naruto asked as Aeris gasped slightly in surprise.

"A friend…?" repeated the doctor before nodding. "Ah yes… that young fellow. Don't worry. Your friend is next door. But I'm afraid his condition is…" he was cut off as Aeris squeezed passed Naruto and into the next room calling out for Cloud. Naruto also peeped inside the room. A nurse was in front of someone in a wheelchair. As the calls reached her ears she turned and walked out of the way. Sure enough, Cloud was revealed. But something was wrong and to Naruto, familiar.

Aeris stopped in front of Cloud and smiled widely. "Cloud!! I'm so glad you're safe!" she exclaimed. She moved closer to him but then Cloud's head, which was drooped down, jerked violently. Aeris jumped slightly. Cloud's head moved up and his eyes met Aeris'. "Cloud?" she asked. The swordsman's head continued to loll backwards before jerking forwards. "Uh…….aaa……?" he moaned.

"Oh no," said Naruto sadly as he realised what was wrong with him.

"Wh… what's wrong… Cloud…?" said Aeris in a deeply worried voice. In response Cloud's head fell forward as he moaned again.

The doctor turned to Naruto. "Mako poisoning. Quite an advanced case…" he said sadly.

Naruto sighed. "Not again…" The doctor heard this. "It seems that this isn't the first time this has happened," he asked. Naruto nodded. "Indeed it hasn't doc. But where has before it was only classed as medium intoxication, now…" he didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to. It was clear now. Aeris started to cry softly. Naruto decided to notify the rest of the team and he walked outside.

*********

"So Spiky's got high level Mako poisoning?" asked Barret. All the women, besides Yuffie, were inside with Cloud. Everyone else stayed outside as Naruto filled them in.

"That's right. Cloud, for the moment, is incapacitated. He's been shocked to the very core from what he saw in Jenova's illusion. He noticed the huge gap in his memory concerning how he 'joined' SOLDIER. Therefore he then believed that he was indeed constructed. But in reality he was just experimented on. That's all. He's still human," explained Naruto.

"Man, this is some deep shit!" said Cid in a subdued voice. "I thought we were just gonna whoop some Shinra ass. Now big ass monsters are on a rampage and a big ass Meteor is just about to crash into us." He looked up at the group. "But even if I knew all this, I think I would of still have joined up with you guys."

"I feel you Cid," Barret said, his voice also low for a change. "I thought that it was all about Shinra at the start of all this. But the more we kept going forward, the more screwed up all this gets."

"So what will we do now?" asked Yuffie. No-one answered, for no-one knew. Eventually Naruto spoke up.

"Well, I think we should ask if Aeris and Tifa will be willing to join us or stay here. That should be our first step. But for now, let's give them some space." Everyone nodded at this, agreeing silently that this was for the best. "Meet here in two hours. And after we have our answer then we'll decide where to go from here." The group then split up. Cid, Naruto, Gaara and Nanaki went to the hot springs to have a much needed soak. Barret went to gather information but his hopes weren't high for anything new. Instead he walked over to the old man at the front entrance to talk. Yuffie started playing with the stray cat and instantly took a liking to the little feline. She then picked up the cat and bounded up a small cliff to pet a white chocobo that was on top of the cliff. Cait Sith wandered to a corner of the small town and seemed to shut himself off. And as for Vincent, well he just found a shady tree to snooze under.

*********

Naruto poked his head through the door. Aeris was still in front of Cloud, holding his hand. Tifa was sitting on one of the beds in deep thought.

"Excuse me, but the group was wondering if you two are going to stay here?" Naruto asked softly. There was a minute of silence before a sound was made. Tifa shifted her weight to face Naruto but Aeris remained still.

"We've decided that we'll stay here," said Tifa. "I… we… want to be by his side…"

Naruto smiled before walking in and kneeling down beside Aeris. He gave her a quick hug and whispered "Stay strong. For Cloud's sake," before moving out of the room.

*********

As soon as everyone was back on the Highwind, Cait Sith piped up. "Guys, I have some news." Instantly everyone listened in. At the moment no-one knew what to do. Getting news from Shinra meant something to do. Naturally though, Barret had to be a smart ass.

"Yeah, what!? That you a spy?" he said, smirking. The mog moved in closer as Cait scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah… I've already told you I was." He turned around to where Naruto was standing, making Barret scowl at not being leader again. "Both 'Gya ha ha' and 'Kya ha ha' are up to something." His imitation of the laughing was completely off centre, but everyone knew who those laughs belonged to.

'Man! Can't those two take a brake at being a pain?' Naruto thought. Kyuubi giggled and the sound made his heart skip a beat.

"Wanna eavesdrop?" asked the cat. Everyone nodded eagerly. Even Yuffie, who was already sick. The little cat she befriended was in one arm while her other was over her mouth.

Cait was silent for a minute before he spoke again. But instead of his own voice coming through, someone else's voice crackled through his mouth. The voice was distorted, like the voice you hear through a phone, but everyone knew the voice.

"_Now then… We're faced with two issues." _came Rufus' voice via Cait. _"First is to destroy Meteor. And the second is to remove the barrier around North Cave and defeat Sephiroth."_ A pause. _"Any ideas?"_

"_Gyahaah hah hah!" _came the annoying laugh of Heidegger. Barret's face lit up in anger as he heard that laugh. _"We already solved the first problem! Meteor will soon be smashed to bits!"_ Everyone's ears were now focused entirely on the conversation. Even the engineers that were on the bridge at the time stopped what they were doing to listen in.

"_The plan has already been put in motion. Namely, to collect Huge Materia from each region."_

"_Well…?"_ asked Rufus, seeming to talk to someone else.

"_Huge Materia is a high density special type of materia made through a special compression process in Mako reactors."_ Came Scarlet's witchy voice that made everyone who heard it wince. _"The energy extracted from it is 330 times the strength of normal materia. Kya ha, ha! How about that!?"_ She sounded like she enjoyed talking about destruction immensely. _"We will gather all the Huge Materia together and ram it into Meteor. That will cause a huge explosion!! Reducing Meteor literally to bits."_

"_You're going to ram Meteor?" _asked Rufus, slightly dubious. "_Do we have the technology to do that?"_

"_Don't worry about that," _said Scarlet. _"More importantly, we've got to collect Huge Materia from each area."_

"_We've already collected materia from Nibelheim. All that's left is the reactors at Corel and Fort Condor," _reported Heidegger. _"I've already dispatched troops to Corel. Gyaa haah hah hah!"_ There was a small click that came from Cait signalling that whoever was transmitting in that meeting had cut the connection.

"Corel!" yelled Barret. "What else can they do to Corel!?"

Nanaki spoke up. "And the Huge Materia… They mean _the_ Huge materia right? I've heard about it. An old Cosmo Canyon legend says that if you hold Mastered materia to the Huge materia, some sort of reaction should happen. The Legend doesn't say what though," the hound explained.

"Well we can't let Shinra get a hold of the last two Huge Materia!" said Barret. He then grinned. "Besides, when Cloud gets better, I wanna show him this Huge Materia. He's gonna be shocked." Naruto then smiled slyly. "So what are you saying Barret? Even though you're always knocking him, you really want Cloud to return." Everyone started chuckling softly as Barret turned around to get his face in order. He soon turned around and yelled as Naruto. "I ain't sayin' nothin' 'bout nothin'. You just… shut your face!" Naruto started laughing and soon everyone was laughing with him. The tension had been lifted.

"Well let's get 'Operation: Reclaimer' under way. Where first?" asked Naruto, even though he and the rest of the group knew where they were already going.

"To Corel!"


	4. Chapter 4: Operation Reclaimer Part 1

**Chapter 4: "Operation Reclaimer" Part One**

The airship hovered near the top of Mt. Corel. Everyone was assembled on the deck. The party was split into two groups. Naruto, Barret, Cid and Nanaki were the strike team while Gaara, Cait, Vincent and Yuffie would remain on the Highwind. Naruto's team boarded off the airship and made their way to the reactor. They reached the entrance of the reactor, only to hear a train's horn.

"Oh boy!" said Nanaki.

"Da-mn!" was the reaction from Barret as a train with five carriages hurtled out of the reactor.

[Cue song The Chase of Highway [FFVII ACC Version] by Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete OST]

"I bet you the Huge Materia is on that train!" said Naruto. Barret shook his fist at the escaping train. "NO! You damn boneheads!" he yelled. Nanaki looked between Naruto, Barret and Cid. "Now what will happen?" he asked. Cid turned to face him. "Hey! Don't you know who I am? I'm Cid - That's who the hell I am! Now just let me handle it!" He then rushed inside the reactor followed by Nanaki and Barret. While they got their hands on an engine for themselves, Naruto flipped through some handseals before saying, "Fuuton: Tobikumo!" The small cloud formed under his feet just as Cid's liberated train roared out of the reactor. Naruto directed the cloud to catch up with the train.

Once he settled the cloud beside the train he looked at Cid, who was figuring out the controls. Barret was siting in the carriage behind the pilot when he asked, "How can they even drive this?" Cid didn't turn around. "Don't ask me… I don't know!"

"What?" yelled Barret in a shocked voice. Cid gripped the only two levers. He set the left one up and the right one down. "Don't worry! I can handle this kinda stuff!" he said in confidents. He alternated the levers and felt the train speed up. Cid turned around and adjusted his goggles. "No sweat!"

"I'm going ahead to take care of any nasties that might get in our way!" yelled Naruto so he could be heard before speeding up and heading to the enemy train. He whooshed quickly up to the first train. He got out his phone and dialled Gaara. He answered quickly. "Gaara, I need your team to evacuate Corel within ten minutes. Cid's going to try to stop the train before that but I want to be sure. Can you do that?"

"_Can do!"_ came Gaara's voice. All of a sudden there was the sound of many whirring blades and Naruto looked up to see the Highwind zoom over his head toward Corel. Naruto quickly boarded the last carriage. One Shinra grunt was guarding the area. Naruto body flashed behind him and knocked him out easily. The next one had three soldiers on top. They were taken care of quickly. The third one was a little tougher as it was a huge red giant with an even bigger sword. Naruto summoned his sword and used the Bolt materia. A lightning bolt three times bigger than normal slammed into the giant from the sky. Naruto at first wondered why it was so powerful but pushed it out of the way. Now was not the time.

The giant swung it's sword at him but Naruto dodged. Seeing as this wasn't going to be solved by using regular magic he tapped into something more advanced.

"Kyuu-chan! Push some of your chakra into the sword!" he yelled out.

"**You got it Naruto-kun!"** she said back as the sword glowed red. More and more of Kyuubi's chakra enveloped the sword until the blade was glowing bright yellow. Naruto activated the second stage of his Kikangan and flashed to the side of the giant. He swung the sword with both hands and struck the monster in the side. The sword didn't sever the giant, but it did set it on fire and launched it off the carriage.

The next challenge was two of the same type of robots. Naruto saw the final carriage had a completely different robot on it so he jumped high into the air and came down on the two machines, slicing them in half before jumping forward and slamming the sword into the last obstacle and letting off another bolt to send electricity coursing through it's circuits. By this time the others had caught up and had jumped over to the train.

Cid passed Naruto and stood behind the soldier who was driving. Hearing some sort of scuffle behind him the man turned to see Cid, Barret, Nanaki and Naruto grinning evilly at him. "What the! You… you guys!"

"Alright! Just hand over the Huge Materia!" commanded Cid. He didn't look like he would so Cid pushed him off the train.

"Now that we got the package, how do we slow this thing down?" asked Naruto.

"Just shut up and keep quiet! If we keep this up, we'll crash right into North Corel!" Cid yelled back before he jumped into the cockpit. "Let's see… If we alternately use the levers to accelerate then…" Cid grasped the two levers. "It should brake if we move the levers up and down simultaneously!" He tried it out.

"Hey, it's not working!" called Barret from the back. He was right. In fact they were gaining speed.

"Fuck! The other way!" Cid swore. "Just watch, this time, I'll…" he tried that but all it did was make the matter worse as the train lurched forward again. "Hey… HEY HEY!" bellowed Barret as he tried to stay on the train. Nanaki was having the same problem. "WHOOOOOOOOAAAA!"

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT!" came Cid's voice as they saw the town up ahead.

Naruto decided to try his luck. He jumped onto the engine and pressed a button he saw. Huge amounts of stem poured out of the engine, making sure that they weren't getting any faster. Then he activated his second level Kikangan and flashed through seals for a bloodline jutsu. He focused an insane amount of chakra into the seals, making the golden chakra flare strongly around him, and said, **"Art of the Fourth Dimension: Field of Meditation!"** He released the jutsu and a massive golden bubble expanded around the train. Almost straight away the train started to slow down quickly. In a matter of seconds the train stopped.

Naruto stopped the jutsu and powered down. He stood there, panting heavily for a minute before taking a deep breath. The others all saw what he had done but were too surprised at what had happened.

Naruto turned to the rest of the group and smiled softly. "Heh, seemed it worked." He stepped off the train and saw how close it had been. The engine was barely touching an old rusty cart in front of the town. Naruto sighed in relief. Meanwhile Barret, Nanaki and Cid were getting out too. The three walked over to Naruto.

"Wha, what did you do?" asked Nanaki. Naruto smiled. "A new jutsu I learned recently. It allows you to quickly stop moving objects. However you need to be in contact with the object so it wouldn't stop bullets and depending on the size of the object it eats away at my chakra quickly." Everyone looked amazed at this bit of info. Naruto then turned around and motioned with his hand to follow. "C'mon guys! Let's find what we've been looking for."

It didn't take long to find it. The package was in the carriage closest to the coal cart. After removing all the coverings the four friends looked at a large case. Naruto lifted the case and laid it on the ground before opening it. The sight they saw brought small gasps from everyone.

In the case was a large cluster of green crystal. It wasn't shaped like materia. The shape was a raw form, as if it had only just been dug out of the earth. And the crystal was pulsing strong waves of ancient power. This was it. The first Huge Materia.

Naruto picked it up to examine the materia closely but as he touched it, a small piece broke away and fell to the ground. Naruto placed the Huge Materia back into the case and picked up the small piece. This Materia was normal, but only in shape and colour. The kind of power that radiated from it was anything but normal. It felt like pure destruction. Gazing into the materia, the image Naruto saw inside was a burning green sun of energy just asking to be released.

'Kyuu-chan, what is this materia? It feels so powerful,' asked Naruto in the depths of his mind.

"**Damn! This spell is known as one of the 10 strongest spells in our records. Scan it. You'll find all the info you need."**

Nodding silently Naruto positioned his G-watch in front of the materia and activated the scan. What he saw shocked him.

-Materia Scan-

Spell: Ultima

Element: Non-Elemental

Description: The Ultima spell is rated in the top ten of our strongest spells known and in the top five in destructiveness. If powered up enough, the spell could obliterate a quarter of a planet. Use extreme caution when using this spell. Only use small amounts of energy to generate this spell.

Rank: Upper S-class

"Wow! This materia sure packs a wallop!" exclaimed Naruto, causing the others to gather round to see. Barret was the first to get over his shock.

"Holy shit man!" was all he said. Cid and Nanaki nodded.

"Well, I'll let Gaara know that we've secured the package." said Naruto as he pulled out his phone. He contacted Garra and advised him on the situation. Then the group of four walked into the town.

As the four walked into town the people were just starting to filter in. One of the men walked up to them and addressed Naruto.

"Thank you very much for saving our town. It's not much but it's all we have. How can we repay you?" he asked. Naruto shook his head.

"No reward is necessary. We're just glad we stopped the train in time," said Naruto. The man smiled before looking at Barret.

"Seems like you did some good this time," he said gruffly, but without the harshness from before. Barret looked nervous. "Well just stay out of trouble." And with that, the man left. Barret visibly deflated after he left. Naruto turned to the three.

"C'mon. Let's go, guys."

"So where next?" asked Nanaki when everyone was on the Highwind once again.

"A place called Fort Condor," said Naruto as he looked at the small map on his mobile phone. "Should be South East from North Corel. On the southern area of the eastern continent."

"I think I've heard of that place," said Yuffie who was looking much better after taking a Tranquilliser, curtesy of Naruto. The small cat was sitting on her shoulder looking slightly worried about her new master. "It's a large fort where the people living inside it protect a large bird called a Condor that roosts on top of the reactor. But that's all I know."

"Well Cid, you have our destination," said Naruto.

"Roger that," he said and started up the airship.

Condor was a small mountain on which a reactor was placed on top. Perched on top of the mako reactor was a huge brown bird. It seemed to be protecting something but it was impossible to see what it was.

The path into the mountain was easy enough and the group of four reached a large cave. A rope hung down from an opening in the ceiling. Cid and Barret climbed up the rope while Naruto and Nanaki used speed, jumping power and chakra to reach the top.

The next chamber was a little different. It was smaller then the cave below. There were a few pipes up against the walls. A rope ladder led the way to the next chamber. The room above was more homely. There were electrical lights, a television, even a small well. There were two passageways leading further into the mountain. In one corner there was a round table with a small gas lamp on top. An old man was siting at the table and seemed to be thinking about something. Naruto and the group walked up to the old man. He turned around and smiled tiredly.

"Hmmn, now this is something. I never thought anyone would ever climb up here. Any minute now, this will be a battlefield against Shinra. You kids better get down before you get involved." At this piece of information, everyone blinked.

"A battlefield, we can't overlook that," said Cid.

"That's right," agreed Naruto.

"We would love to help you fight them," said Nanaki.

"Hell yeah!" said Barret, waving his gun arm around.

"It appears you have a problem with Shinra too. After all, you climbed up here," said the old man.

"Uh, not quite," said Naruto. "We got a hold of some intelligence from Shinra that said they were collecting large chunks of raw materia. We need to keep them from getting the materia at all costs. One of the places that they were going to was here."

The old man nodded and pulled out from underneath the table a case. He opened it and inside was a piece of materia that was almost identical to the Huge Materia they picked up in North Corel. Only this one was coloured red.

"This is what you need?" he asked. The group nodded. "Well you can have it under one condition."

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"That you help us fight off the Shinra."

"We already agreed that we would help you with that," said Nanaki.

"Then I suggest you go talk to my son upstairs. He'll tell you what you need to do." And with that he closed the case and tucked it back underneath the table. Naruto turned to the rest of the group and nodded. They then made their way up to the top room.

This room was quite different. It was a wooden hut with a long window that looked out across the mountain. A man with a white bandanna on his head was currently looking through the window. As soon as he heard footsteps behind him, he turned sharply around to see Naruto, Cid, Barret and Nanaki.

"You here to help?" he asked. Everyone nodded.

"Well you're just in time. Take a look out there," he said. Naruto peeked out of the window to see a mass of blue and red beings near the bottom of the mountain. The man gave him a pair of binoculars and with them Naruto was able to come to a rough estimate of 1500 Shinra soldiers. Most were the normal grunts. There were quite a few robots like Roboguards, Airbusters and the like. There were also a few of those small helicopters that Naruto had beaten while escaping from the Shinra in Midgar. And finally there was a huge robot at the back that looked like a proper challenge. This battle was not going to be a walk in the park.

"That's a lot of guys to defeat, but I have a way of creating better odds for us," Naruto said. The man looked slightly confused, but nodded all the same. "We'll leave everything to you."

Naruto then opened the door on one side of the shed and stepped out into the afternoon light. The noise from the enemy could be faintly heard on the wind, but that didn't faze him. Cid, Barret and Nanaki walked out of the shed to watch what Naruto had in mind.

Naruto flipped through several handseals while focusing a large amount of chakra into his hands. He then finished the last seal and called out the name.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kitsune Medium Army!"**

Naruto then slammed his hands onto the ground and a large seal array spread out from his hands and a massive cloud of smoke rose up from the seal. Almost immediately the constant wind that swept around the mountain banished the smoke to reveal quite an impressive sight.

The kitsune company of 87 strong was very impressive. All the foxes had toned down their sizes considerably but they still looked larger then life. Twenty of the six-tailed kitsune were dressed in the same sort of armour that Naruto remembered Starscream wearing, however this armour looked different. The metal looked far stronger but still was quite flexible. It was a bit more polished then its predecessor; reflecting the light strongly. The design was the same however.

The Stealth squad of 16 kitsune were quite different. Their armour was completely black with black leather around the metal plates to almost completely reduce the metal clinking. Their fur was black; their eyes were black. In fact the only reason Naruto could tell which one was the squad leader was that he had seven tails. That and he was standing in front of his squad.

The remaining seven-tailed kitsune were like the others normally, only their armour was light coloured to show their superiority in status. The 10 long ranged kitsune attackers were dressed in heavy looking armour of the same alien metal. These guys looked like tanks. They were obviously used like catapults, using their foxfire in large amounts and high density to knock down buildings or to help break the enemy ranks.

The thirty brightly coloured five-tailed kitsune were different again, but not just in colour. They were wearing robes instead of plate armour. But if one were to look closely, they would spot chain-mail in the same metal as the others in plate-mail poking through the robes. Their fur colour was red for the fire casters; grey for wind users and blue for the water manipulators.

And finally the commander for the battalion, an eight-tailed kitsune, was in humanoid form. His armour looked reminiscent of the knight armour that the Honour guards wore. But instead of white, it was dark grey stained. He walked up to Naruto and looked at him with neon blue eyes, before bowing and introducing himself.

"I am called Slipstream. Myself and the regiment I command are at your service, Taishou-sama," he said in respect.

"Thank you Slipstream," said Naruto. "This mountain is about to be under siege. I and my companions have agreed to help these people in fighting off the besiegers. I need you to call over the captains of the stealth party and elemental attack squads as we discuss the strategy."

"Hai!" said Slipstream before turning around and barking a few orders. Most of the army stood at ease and sat down to wait for further instructions while the four captains trotted over. Naruto addressed the Stealth captain first.

"I need you to send your subordinates to infiltrate where the enemy is stationed at the present time. We don't have much time so I need them to find out exactly how many are out there within 10 minutes of you arriving there."

The black seven-tailed kitsune nodded. "Zulu squad is on it, Taishou-sama," he said before he relayed the orders to his soldiers. They immediately jumped to their paws and shot off with scarcely more than a whisper of the wind. The captain turned back to Naruto and waited.

"Ok, this is how we'll do it," said Naruto and he shared his strategy with the commander and captains. The plan was very simple. Omega squad (that's the long-ranged eight-tailed kitsune) would break up the attack lines when the enemy would charge.

After the survivors get past the bombardment area Omega squad will continue with the artillery fire to slow down the heavy machinery, while Alpha (20 normal 6 tailed kitsune), Beta (10 normal 7 tailed kitsune) and Chaos squad (Naruto, Nanaki, Barret and Cid) will engage the bulk of the army.

Squads F, S and L (the elemental kitsune; F = Fire, S = Wind and L = Water) will support Alpha, Beta and Chaos squads. Zulu squad will go behind enemy lines and assassinate the enemy commanders. Omega squad and the commander will guard the shed while Alpha, Beta and Chaos squad will pick off the machinery stragglers before all squads save for Omega will converge on the Behemoth class assaulter. (AN: That's the boss.)

At that point Zulu squad returned and the lieutenant of the squad reported that there were 750 grunts, 500 mobile machinery weapons and 250 members of SOLDIER. Warnings were given out about these soldiers and then the plan was put into action. As the kitsune moved into position, Naruto walked back to his friends.

"You're really good at this," said Barret.

"I'll say," agreed Cid.

"You make a fine General," complimented Nanaki.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks guys," he said.

"Oh, by the way. I contacted the Highwind and they're able to bring in an air strike. Only one though, so I thought we'd use it on that big ass red thing," suggested Cid.

"Good idea. I'll tell the commander this. We'll fall back and let the Highwind deal the finishing blow," said Naruto before going off to find the commander.

Ten minutes later everyone was ready and Naruto, who was observing the enemy, saw that they were starting to move.

"Ok," said Naruto before taking a deep breath.

"Omega squad! Begin the attack!"

Each kitsune in the Omega squad lifted their tails so that their tips were over their heads, facing forward and in a circle. From inside each circle a swirling mass of blue fire appeared. The foxfire grew until each ball was the size of a basketball. Then the kitsune launched the foxfire and the balls of blue fire sailed through the sky, heading to the enemy lines. Naruto was looking through the binoculars and grinned as the first volley almost totally decimated the first wave with large explosions. But there were still quite a number that were able to escape.

As the second volley fired, Naruto raised his arm and yelled "CHARGE!" The ground began to rumble slightly as thirty large foxes rampaged down the mountain with Naruto, Cid, Barret and Nanaki amongst them. When they met the enemy, they engaged instantly.

The first soldier came Naruto's way and he summoned his sword and ducked under the bullets that shot toward him. He struck out and left the guy dissolving into lifestream energy. Then the second came; then the third, then fourth.

Barret was having a field day with blasting the Shinra soldiers. He was concentrating so much on the soldiers in front that he didn't notice one creeping up behind him until it was too late. He spun around when the soldier's shadow fell over him. He tried turning his gun arm around quickly enough but it seemed that he wouldn't be quick enough.

Five searing hot projectiles shot from behind him and slammed into the soldier, exploding on impact and sending him flying back several meters. Barret turned to see a red five-tailed fox lower his tails. The fox nodded at Barret before rushing off to support others in need, leaving Barret standing there, slightly slack jawed, before he remembered where he was and continued his assault, but now more careful about who was behind him.

Cid was taking out soldiers left, right and centre with his spear. The six-tailed grey fox next to him was back to back with Cid as they tore the enemy a new one several times over. All of a sudden a Roboguard came in and started to attack the duo. Cid hopped back a little before he jumped up high and came down hard with his spear into what he assumed was the head. The Roboguard stumbled slightly as Cid held on and jammed his weapon in harder, before jumping off altogether and landing beside the fox. In turn the kitsune opened his mouth and from it came a concentrated beam of foxfire which penetrated and speared right through the head where all the computations were going on. With its brain fried, the Roboguard shuddered once and then collapsed.

Nanaki and a seven-tailed fox were tag-teaming. The two were speeding through the chaos, slashing tendons and clawing throats everywhere. They were like a blur to the enemy. One of the chopper machines spotted them and let off a burst of machine gun fire, a few bullets crashing into the soldiers. Nanaki and the fox split and moved into a pincer move. The fox came in first, slashing across the complex machinery before Nanaki used a Bolt materia that Naruto managed to liberate off the girls before they left. A powerful Bolt 2 spell struck the chopper and fried everything in a five meter area. This included killing three soldiers. The chopper's blades on top blew apart and flew off, thankfully none hit any friendlies. The soldiers who weren't fast enough were killed instantly however.

After another ten minutes of battle, almost all the grunts and machines had been destroyed. No casualties so far. But the battle wasn't over yet. Hurrying over the charred remains of the poor bastards that were hit by the foxfire cannonballs were the elites; members of SOLDIER.

"FORM UP!" roared Naruto and all the foxes plus Nanaki, Cid and Barret formed an unbroken line to face the next lot of enemies. "CHARGE!" yelled Naruto and everyone on the battlefield rushed to meet the new threat.

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the battlefield, the commander was looking in shock as he watched the carnage that was happening. This was supposed to be an easy mission. Intelligence at HQ told him to expect little resistance. The commander was no idiot and he was definitely not overconfident. He never overestimated his foes. He knew there would be a chance that the bumpkins here would gather up some form of resistance. He even took two and a half regiments of third class SOLDIER's with him to be sure. But this… for a force this skilled he would of requested several companies of third class and a few regiments of second class. And those… those monsters seemed to be fighting _for_ their enemy.

"What's the status of the Behemoth?" he asked to his second in command.

"Sir! It is ready for deployment, sir!" replied the man. The commander nodded. "Tell them to move forward," he ordered.

"Sir!" said the Corporal before relaying the order to the technicians overseeing the massive machine. After two minutes the Behemoth started to move toward the battle.

'It's a shame that it will be worthless in the end,' thought the veteran commander who knew that the robot would only buy some time, but that was all it needed to do.

"Private! Get on the horn with Shin-Ra HQ! Tell them that we need reinforcements immediately!" he ordered to the soldier next to him that was connected with Shinra back in Midgar. When the Private didn't respond the commander turned to face him.

"Didn't you hear me? I said contact…" Any words that were to follow that instantly died in his mouth as he saw the look of horror that was on the Private's face and the blood that was cascading out of his chest from several large gashes across his chest and one across his throat.

"What the…?" whispered the commander before he saw a black humanoid shadow with seven tails jump in front of him and then he knew no more.

Back at the battlefield, the battle was intense. Blood was everywhere; thin lifestream rivers were intertwining with each other: heads were rolling (courtesy of Naruto and Cid) and there was a lot of screaming. By now the enemy had lost roughly nine tenths of their SOLDIER force and the Kitsune army had lost half of their forces, the unconscious and severely wounded bodies were instantly sent back to the summoning realm.

Naruto was having a tough time as several third classes had ganged up on him. His tail was out and his Kikangan was flaring. He flashed over to the first victim and swung his sword around, severing the man in two across the hip. He quickly moved on to the second and using his bloodline limit, he was able to duck under the sword swipe from his adversary and slam his sword into the man. He quickly withdrew his sword and waited for one to make a move. Eventually one of the brash rookies charged in with an overhead strike. Naruto neatly sidestepped him and crushed his head with the flat of his sword as he swung it like a baseball bat. He then charged up three Firestorm Rasengans, one with each hand and one on his tail and slammed each one onto the remaining three enemies. They were blasted back 20 meters, burning anything in their path with intense hot flames. No kitsune of course.

Nanaki was spewing fire spells everywhere he saw the maroon coloured vest that signalled you as a third class SOLDIER. He was on a good roll as his new friend; the black seven-tailed fox and a grey wind casting kitsune were backing him up nicely.

Cid and Barret were doing well as well. They and a few 5, 6 and 7 tailed kitsune were in a rough circle facing outwards and killing anyone who got close. In the middle were two mage kitsune, a water and a fire one, wounded badly. They had not fallen unconscious and so had not been dismissed back to their world. There were enemies closing in and it was getting tough. But just before they were completely overwhelmed, Naruto and Nanaki arrived at the scene and tore through the advancing enemies.

"Looks like you're in a tough spot here guys," observed Naruto calmly as he lopped of someone's head.

"We're fine here, but the foxes in the middle need tending to," said Cid before jabbing at the next third class.

"Got it!" said Naruto and jumped over everyone to land where the two wounded kitsune's were.

"Don't worry guys, I'll get you up and going soon," assured Naruto before flipping through a familiar set of handseals.

"Divine Rebirth no Jutsu," spoke Naruto before placing a hand each on both foxes. His hands glowed and before long their wounds were healed and the two mage kitsune were back on their feet. Naruto shook his head slightly before a cry from Nanaki sounded through the air. Naruto's head snapped to the direction of where the yell had come from, and saw something big. Very big.

It was the Behemoth. It stood, towering over everyone, easily 150 feet tall. It was hard to imagine how something like that could even move. But here it was.

"Shit that's a big motherfucker!" swore Cid.

"Damn right," agreed Barret, who was usually the first to swear out loud.

Naruto brought out his phone and dialled a new number he added. It was Slipstream's number.

"What are your orders, Taishou-sama?" asked Slipstream.

"I need you to attack the Behemoth while we fall back. The Highwind will come in and deliver an air strike so we need to be clear of the blast radius. When I give the signal, fall back," said Naruto into the phone.

"It will be done, Taishou-sama!" Slipstream replied before he hung up. Then there was a roaring noise that came from the top of the mountain and everyone turned to see what was making that noise.

There, standing in bright armour, and over 100 feet tall, was Slipstream. He looked magnificent, powerful, and ready for battle. He then pounced in the direction of Behemoth and engaged the robot.

"EVERYONE! FALL BACK TO THE SUMMIT!" yelled Naruto over the loud growling and mechanical whirring of the titanic battle. The remains of the Kitsune Army, Cid, Barret, Nanaki and Naruto began their retreat to the shed. There Naruto met Omega and Zulu squad.

He turned to the captain of the Omega squad. "I need you to create a ball of foxfire that will serve as a signal," said Naruto. The captain nodded once and formed his tails once again into the same formation as before. A ball of foxfire, smaller and less dense, was formed and then the captain launched it high into the air.

Gaara was anxiously waiting for the signal as he; Yuffie, Vincent and Cait Sith watched the massive battle between the giant fox and robot. Then suddenly a small ball of blue fire was launched from the mountain and the ball exploded in the air above the duelling titans.

"That's the signal! Go! Go! Go!" yelled Gaara and the Highwind moved forward.

Slipstream was having a hard time bringing this thing down. He thought that the Highwind wasn't necessary but apparently Taishou-sama was right in this. A light caught his eyes and he looked up to see the foxfire flare explode above them. With one last slash Slipstream jumped away, shrinking in midair until he was back to his humanoid form, his dark grey hair and tails fluttering around him as he plummeted back to the summit.

Naruto saw the Highwind roar over his head, heading for the massive machine in the middle of the war zone.

"Bring the rain!" he said passionately. As soon as his words left his mouth, a large barrage of missiles exited the right side of the airship. The missiles, over twenty, smashed into the Behemoth. The machine was engulfed in a humongous explosion that sent out a large shockwave. Black clouds of smoke erupted from the flames and for a few minutes, no one could see anything. But it seamed than it needed more than that as the Behemoth walked out of the flames. It was critically damaged. Dark grey smoke was billowing out of several large holes.

Not wasting any time the second missile load out fired out of the left side of the Highwind. Again the missiles reached the target and again a massive explosion was created. But this time, after several seconds, a few secondary explosions could be seen through the smoke and flames. Then, finally, an enormous explosion occurred, followed instantly by a plume of green, mako fuelled flames that shot up towards the sky.

"We did it!" shouted Naruto and started jumping for joy. Unconsciously he pushed chakra into the sword and summoned Kyuubi. They both looked at each other for a split second before hugging each other, shouting "We did it!" over and over again.

The conflict that would later be called 'The Battle for Condor' was over.


	5. Chapter 5: Ultimate Company

**Chapter 5: Ultimate Company**

Naruto sighed as he, Kyuubi, Barret, Cid and Nanaki stood in the shed with the old man's son. Gaara and Vincent had come down from the Highwind and Slipstream was also present.

The man shook Naruto's hand vigorously. "Thank you! Thank you so much! Because of your bravery and help, we are still alive," he said, his face positively beaming at everyone.

Naruto scratched the back of his head while smiling, embarrassed at all the thanks he was getting. Kyuubi had her arm around his waist, holding him close and smiling happily. Barret and Cid were also smiling, both content with the entire Shinra ass whooping they dealt out in the past 3 hours. Gaara, Vincent and Nanaki were all smiling softly, thankful that the battle was over. And Slipstream was smiling softly at Naruto, glad that his Taishou was smart as well as strong.

"I doubt the Shinra will attack now," said the man before a loud crack resonated through the shed, making everyone instantly alert for trouble. The whole gang ran outside only to gasp in shock and awe at what was happening.

The massive bird perched on top of the reactor was staring intently at the large egg next to it. Looking closer, Naruto saw that the egg was hatching. Suddenly there was a bright light and a massive sphere of energy engulfed the reactor. A torrent of flames erupted from the egg and expanded inside the sphere. Soon the whole sphere was alight with fire. Then from the centre, a shadow appeared. It arrived inside the sphere in a swirl of dark golden fire. The shadow expanded until the shape could be determined. It was a bird of some kind. Large wings spread out before the sphere disappeared, releasing the flames inside. They rushed toward the group and Naruto brought his hands up to shield himself, but felt surprised when an amazing warmth washed over him. Then it disappeared as quickly as it came. Naruto looked up in time to see the condor screech loudly and tumble backwards, falling down the mountain with a loud crash. Then the egg cracked open with a small light sparkling inside.

Naruto, Kyuubi, Gaara, Nanaki, Vincent and Slipstream all jumped up the side of the reactor to see what had come out. The light was coming from a piece of materia. And from the egg was a baby condor. It was preening its feathers at the moment, not bothered by the small group of people. Naruto walked up to the materia and realised that it was a summon. Looking closer, the shape inside looked like the shadow of that bird from the flames.

"Kyuubi," Naruto turned to his girlfriend. "You recognise this summon?"

She walked over and slid her arm around him as she looked over his shoulder. "That's a Phoenix summon. The phoenix's use Sacred Flames to attack. The fire can also revive people who have been dead for less than a minute," she answered.

"I see," Naruto said before realising that he had no more space in his sword for more materia. He went through the list of people in his head before deciding who to give it to. "I'll give this to Aeris," he said before slipping the materia into one of his pockets.

A sudden wind picked up and everyone turned to the baby condor. It had started to flap its wings, trying to fly. After a few tries the giant chick hovered in the air before swooping over their heads and flying away.

They stayed on the top of the reactor for a few moments before Naruto turned to Slipstream. "Thank you for your help Slipstream," he thanked. Slipstream bowed towards Naruto. "The pleasure was ours, Taishou," he said before vanishing in a puff of smoke back to the summoning realm.

*********

"Everyone, thanks. I really mean it. Thanks," said the old man. Everyone was clustered around him including Yuffie and Cait Sith. The small cat was sitting on top of Yuffie's head when she had come down from the Highwind. Naruto scrunched up his eyes, trying to remember where he'd seen something like this when it hit him. The cat was sitting just like Akamaru sat on Kiba's head. Idly, Naruto wondered how everyone was going back home.

The old man slid the case with the Condor Huge Materia inside across the table. "I believe this is now yours. I wish we could give you more, but-" he was cut off by Naruto.

"No need for anything more than this old man. We were happy to help," he said with the group nodding collectively.

The old man smiled widely. "You'll always be welcome here anytime."

Naruto smiled before turning to his comrades. "So what now? We've got the two pieces of Huge Materia," he asked.

"There's one at the Junon reactor. The reactor itself is underwater," said Cait Sith.

"Well that's definitely a future destination but I think we should go see how Cloud's doing."

Everyone nodded, agreeing that checking up on Cloud, Tifa and Aeris was a good idea.

*********

Nothing had changed about Mideel. Though Naruto expected this, he thought at least some small thing would change. Naruto turned to the side to see Yuffie walking next to him. The cat was still curled up on her head.

"So Yuffie, thought of a name for this little guy?" he asked as he reached up to scratch the cat behind the ears. The cat purred, enjoying the treatment.

"**Oh! I'm so jealous!"** whined Kyuubi inside his head.

"Um... I'm not sure what her name'll be," Yuffie answered.

"Her?" asked Naruto, trying to concentrate on what Yuffie was saying since Kyuubi was asking in the cutest voice imaginable if she could have an ear scratch. And the voice was really distracting.

"Yeah, it's a girl."

"I see," mussed Naruto before he got an idea.

'Hey Nibi? You there?' Naruto asked by projected his thoughts.

'_**Yeah! What's up?'**_

'Any thoughts on what a good name for a girl cat would be?'

'_**Hmm... how bout Jess?'**_

Naruto relayed the suggestion to Yuffie.

"Oh yeah! That sounds like a great name!" She reached up and brought the cat around so she was looking at it. "You hear that? From now on your name is Jess!"

The cat rubbed her head against Yuffie's cheek in agreement. Yuffie smiled widely before placing her back on top of her head.

By this time Naruto and the troupe had reached the clinic. There they were greeted with an unusual sight. The doc and his nurse were outside, peeking through the window.

"You alright there doc?" asked Naruto. The doctor looked from whatever he was looking at inside to Naruto and smiled wearily.

"Well about half a day after you left, your two female companions started bickering about who was better for your sick friend. They threw us out when we tried to calm them down. They've stopped but only because they now have sore throats but every time we try to come back inside, those two would glare at us."

The nurse nodded with her sempai. "That's right and those glares that they give us. *shudder* I'd rather look into the eyes of the Midgar Zolom."

Naruto sweat dropped heavily at this statement before smiling amused, and turned to the group. "Well let's go see..."

Everyone had backed away from Naruto.

"...them?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"...you're all a bunch of pussies." And with that he walked through the door.

'Heh, it can't be as bad as having a staring contest with Iruka-sensei while his demon head jutsu is activated,' thought Naruto as he walked from the first room into the second. He was then bombarded with extreme killer intent. He looked for the source and locked eyes with two very pissed women.

"Ah... hi ladies?"

*********

"So, let me get this straight. You both love Cloud and have been arguing almost since we left?" Naruto asked once they had calmed down.

Both women nodded.

"Well have you thought about what Cloud might want?"

"Of course. We're just waiting to ask him after he wakes up," said Aeris.

"I have a suggestion. How about you refrain from asking him until this whole ordeal is over. The last thing he needs now is the monumental decision of choosing between you two. He doesn't need that dilemma running through his head in a critical situation."

"I never thought about it that way," said Tifa before she turned to Aeris. "I think we should make a truce until this war is over. Then we'll ask Cloud and whatever he decides we'll abide with it. Deal?" she asked as she held out her hand. Aeris nodded. "That's just what I was thinking. Deal!" and she shook her hand.

"Great! Now that that's dealt with…" Naruto began, only to look around wildly as the whole place began to shake violently. "What the fuck is going on!" he yelled.

At that moment the doc and his nurse assistant ran back inside. "There are several jets of green energy shooting out of the ground and there's a huge monster flying above us!" yelled the doctor.

"Help us please!" screamed the nurse hysterically.

Naruto turned to the girls. "Aeris, get Cloud to a safe distance! Tifa, you're with me!" The two nodded. Tifa ran out with Naruto, the doc and the nurse while Aeris busied herself with preparing Cloud. As soon as Naruto and Tifa had left there was another violent shudder through the ground. One of the shelves began to topple over. Aeris was so busy with Cloud that she didn't see the shelf fall onto her head. Aeris cried out before blackness overtook her vision.

*********

Naruto turned his eyes to see humongous geysers of Lifestream energy shooting hundreds of meters into the air. There were at least eight of them. The liquid energy washed over the ground, creating new growth everywhere it touched. However in some places the ground was breaking apart and was beginning to collapse. Hovering high above the town was one of the weapons that looked like a huge dragon.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!" Naruto roared over the noise and instantly 50 clones were standing in front of him.

"Ok, everyone start evacuating the townspeople into the Highwind!" he yelled. "HAI!" said all the clones and they then scattered to collect everyone.

Naruto then turned to Cid. "When everyone is on the airship, move everyone to the east until you think you're far enough, unload then come back for any stragglers!"

"You got it!" he said before running back to the Highwind to prep the engines.

Naruto then turned his gaze back to Weapon. The monster was definitely huge. Easily the size of the airship. "Looks like I'm going to use the same attack strategy I used against Shukaku until I summoned Gamabunta." Naruto then flipped through the same seals again and bellowed out, "TAJU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!" A large puff of white smoke later and there was an army of 100 clones. Watching from afar was the rest of the gang, looking totally gobsmacked at the sight. Even Garra who had witnessed firsthand the damage Naruto's clones could do.

"Ok guys! Let's kick some ass!" yelled Naruto.

"**OOHRA!!!"** chorused the clones back. They then connected themselves to each other and formed a giant whip. The real Naruto then created another clone that was physically stronger than the others and ordered that clone to start the attack. The clone then began to whip the rope of clones around in the air before hurling them at Weapon. All the cloned then detached themselves and they all flipped through the same set of seals. They all brought their fingers to their mouths and blew in the direction of Weapon.

"**KATON: HOSENKA NO JUTSU!!!"**

Hundreds upon hundreds of red hot fireballs flew through the air until there were roughly 1000 fireballs in the air. From the ground it would look like a huge storm of bright orange, yellow and red projectiles that were racing toward Weapon. Naruto then spoke the name of his new move.

"Katon: Flare Barrage no Jutsu."

The thousand balls of fire slammed into the side of Weapon and exploded on contact. Before half of them had collided Weapon was engulfed in a black cloud of smoke. After several seconds Weapon soared out of the cloud and began to retreat. It was hard to see since Weapon's skin was mostly a dark grey colour but it seemed there was burn marks all over half of Weapon's body.

"Oh yeah!" yelled Naruto in triumph as the ground started to settle back down. The geysers also slowed down until they had completely died out.

"Whew! I'm glad that's over," said Naruto before he tensed up again. The ground had begun to shake violently again. "Dammit! Not again!" Naruto ran over to the edge of town where the rest of the gang were.

"C'mon! We have to get outta here!" yelled Barret as he and the others began to run toward the airship. Naruto ran alongside Nanaki. "Do you know if Aeris and Cloud have gone ahead of us?" he yelled at his friend.

"No, I haven't seen them. Cid'll know for sure!" he yelled back. Naruto nodded before using his ninja speed to jump through the branches. When he got to the airship he saw Gaara helping the townspeople up the ladder.

"Gaara! Have you seen Aeris and Cloud?" he asked.

"Not yet Naruto. They weren't on the first transport," said Gaara while using his sand to help an elderly woman up the ladder.

"Crap!" cursed Naruto softly. "Then where could they be?" Naruto thought for a moment before his eyed widened in horror. "They couldn't still be…" he turned back to the source of the shaking. "…there?!" As soon as the words had left his mouth he had activated his second level Kikangan and had shot off towards the crumbling town.

Several seconds later he was at ground zero. The town already looked like it had been hit by a massive storm. Most of the buildings were down or were just about to fall over. But that wasn't the worst of it.

The ground was full of cracks. In a few areas the ground was gone, leaving a hole where an eerie green light shone out of the hole.

'I don't have much time left!' Naruto thought to himself before he flashed over to the clinic. He kicked down the door and peered inside.

"Aeris! Cloud!" he yelled. The inside of the clinic was a mess. Books and equipment were strewn out on the floor. Medicine bottles were broken on the ground, their contents mixing with each other. Naruto, seeing that they weren't in this room, ran over to the second room. There, under a broken shelf, was Aeris and Cloud. Aeris was bleeding severely from the head and she looked to be completely knocked out. Cloud was still the same.

"Shit!" he swore before forming his hands into the correct handsign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he said, creating a clone. "You grab Cloud, I'll get Aeris!" he said urgently. The clone nodded and proceeded to sling Cloud over his shoulder. The clone then grabbed the Buster Sword that was lying next to him and walked out of the room, careful not to slip on any fallen objects. The real Naruto then proceeded to remove all the wood and glass that was trapping Aeris. He then picked her up, bridal style so as not to injure her worse before walking out of the room.

As soon as he and the clone had exited the clinic, the earthquake got more violent. More sections of the ground fell away. The two made a break for the edge of town when a large crashing sound exploded from behind them. Naruto looked back to see the clinic and the ground around the building rise up slightly before slipping sideways and collapsing downward.

"Oh shit!" yelled Naruto before continuing to run. As they passed the unofficial square of the town another huge sound blasted past them. Naruto didn't need to turn to know that the square was gone. They were almost at the end…

"_Stop… please!"_

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. 'Kyuubi? Was that you?' he asked.

"**No, I didn't say anything. Someone is projecting their thoughts into your mind."**

"_Please… this is the only way to save him. The only way for him to rediscover who he truly is!"_

"There's that voice again…" said Naruto to himself before the ground below him shuddered. Naruto only had a split second to realise that he was fucked when the ground gave way beneath him and they all fell straight into the glowing lifestream.


	6. Chapter 6: Rediscovering Who You Are

**Chapter 6: Rediscovering Who You Are**

Blackness. That was all he could see. An endless black abyss where he couldn't see, smell, taste or touch. Only the sound of his own breathing and his thoughts could be heard.

"What happened to me?" he said aloud, his voice leaving no echo. He thought for a second before he remembered. "Oh, that's right. I fell into the Lifestream. Funny. I though the place would be a little greener." He then realised that Kyuubi hadn't spoken since he had awakened.

'Kyuu-chan! You still with me?'

"**I am. I'll never leave you, ever,"** was the comforting reply.

'Thank god. I'm so glad,' he said in his mind.

Suddenly the blackness was filled with white light that for some reason didn't blind him. The light was very easy on his eyes, though the colour was definitely pure white. The new colour stuck around for a few minutes before a new vision revealed upon his eyes. A very familiar landscape began to replace the white until he was surrounded by buildings. On instinct Naruto turned to the east and saw a large cliff where four large stone heads stuck out of the cliff face.

"Konoha…" breathed Naruto. But as soon as the word left his mouth he was on guard. The sky was awash with oranges, reds and dark blue with streaks of cloud highlighted with yellow. Normally at this time, the streets would be packed with people getting back to their homes, or going out to dinner. However the hidden village was devoid of all human life. It was like a ghost town.

"Wha… what's going on?" Naruto asked.

"Get back here demon!" came a shout from his left. Instinctively he flinched violently before turning around to the direction of the voice.

A mob of people with makeshift weapons were chasing a little boy down the street. The boy didn't seem to be any older than five but he was running quite fast for his age. As he and the mob drew closer, Naruto realised with a shock that this boy was him. Himself on his 6th birthday. Now he understood why there was no-one on the streets as everyone was attending the festival.

The younger Naruto wore disgusting garbs not fit for any person to wear, they smelled horrible, and were ripped to shreds barely hanging onto his obviously malnourished body. The older Naruto watched as the kid came barrelling past him and turned into a darkened corner only to meet a dead-end. He turned to run back but alas, the mob of villagers and some shinobi had caught up to him, cornering him in that dreadful alley.

"Ah finally stopped running huh demon!?" A man sneered

"Good I was getting tired from running after your little ass!" Another agreed

"We'll take good care of you demon...just like the Yondaime should have!" A third one concurred.

The mob slowly walked towards the boy who was huddled against the wall crying, wishing for someone...anyone to help him.

"W...why are you doing t...this to me? I n...never did anything to you, I'm not a de...demon, I'm just me. I just want to be left alone...p...please." He pleaded, tears running down his dirtied form.

"Aw...the little demon wants mercy how...**detestable! **Where was your mercy when you were slaughtering our mothers and fathers, our sisters and brothers huh?" The first man barked back.

The mob lost all self-control after the final words of their family's losses was spoken, and simply beat the hell out of the little boy cowering in fear of them. Right before the final blow was struck, the boy turned into a log to the mob's frustration. They turned to see the half conscious, bleeding, and broken boy in the arms of one of the few people who had ever protected him from them. Sadly he was one if not the strongest person in the entire village...the Sandaime Hokage.

"And just what the **HELL** do you people think you are doing to him!?" Sarutobi yelled, letting his KI wash over the mob, making most into crying, snivelling babies.

"We were simply finishing what the Yondaime started, and what he'd want us to finish if he was still alive!" One of the few ninjas associated with the mob had gasped out.

He narrowed his eyes at the group. "I see...well I've told you fools for the past five years what happened...and I'm tired of repeating myself. ANBU! Take care of these fools, they have broken my law and WILL pay the consequences!"

As the ANBU jumped down from the rooftops the memory vision dissolved into a second one similar to the first one. The second one was then replaced with a third, and a fourth. By the time the eight memories came round, Naruto was on the ground, crying, sobbing and shaking; repeating the same words that came out of the young kid.

"Please, don't hit me. Please… I'm not a d-demon. Somebody, please… help me… please. What did I do…?"

Suddenly a pair of warm arms enveloped him and held the young man to their body. Naruto looked up to see Kyuubi's ruby red eyes gazing back into his own. She then closed the gap between them and kissed him on the lips. This kiss was different from any of the others he'd received in the past. This one radiated warmth and love that filled his body up and banished all negative thoughts and emotions from him. Naruto responded to the kiss, running his hands through her silky red hair.

After a minute of this they both broke apart, panting slightly, even though halfway through the kiss they had resorted to breathing through their noses. Naruto smiled, not one of his foxy smiles, but a true smile.

"Thanks. I really needed that," he said softly as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"You don't ever need to thank me for this kind of thing. I love you from the bottom of my heart and I will promise you that I will never leave you alone," she said lovingly. She then wrapped her arms around him once again and held him close to her body. Naruto responded to the hug by sliding his own arms around her waist and back.

"Well, truly I never expected your past to be this hellish," said the same voice that was heard before Naruto fell into the Lifestream. Naruto and Kyuubi jumped violently and looked around franticly for the voice before they saw the owner.

There, dressed in ceremonial armour, wielding a spear that seemed to be more for spell casting than fighting and a large round shield, was a woman. She had long blond hair and a kind smile on her face. All in all, she looked like a goddess. Not in beauty though she was undeniably so, but in what a typical goddess would look like.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto in awe.

The new person smiled. "I'm the spirit of this planet."

"I see," said Naruto, nodding as if it all made sense. "So I guess there was a reason to delve into my past?"

The goddess nodded. "I needed to see your true self and the only way to do so is to see your past. I sifted through your whole history while you relived only a few of your memories. I'm sorry I had to do this."

"It's alright," replied Naruto.

"I should now take you to your friend. You need to help him find his real self," she said. Naruto and Kyuubi nodded before tendrils of Lifestream energy flowed out of the goddess and wrapped themselves around the pair. Naruto was blinded by green light before all went black.

*********

When Naruto opened his eyes again he found himself in a metal corridor. In the corners were blue cables running as far as he could see. The metal was specked with rust and in more than a few places there was water leaking out of the walls.

"Where am I?" wondered Naruto out loud.

"We're inside Cloud's mind. These corridors represent the main chakra pathways while the blue cables are his minor chakra pathways," answered Kyuubi who stepped into Naruto's view.

"I see. It's like the sewers in my mind," realised Naruto. "I guess we just have to find something." With this said Naruto and Kyuubi started walking forward.

About 10 minutes later they came across a huge room. It wasn't quite as big as the cage where Kyuubi was trapped in before but it was still huge. On one side there was a pair of massive steal doors. Carved into the doors were many things. In one section there was a boy and girl sitting on a well, looking to the stars above. Another was a house on fire. There was a big carving of Sephiroth near the middle. There were others but they seemed either too small to make out or were too faint. And standing in front of the doors was Cloud.

"Cloud! What's going on?" asked Naruto as he walked towards his friend. But before he could get close enough, Cloud drew his Buster sword and swung the blunt edge at Naruto, catching him completely off guard. The force blew Naruto all the way back to the edge of the room and he slammed into the wall.

"Naruto! Are you alright?!" asked Kyuubi franticly.

"Yeah," replied Naruto; wincing at the pain. "Just dandy," he muttered the last part.

"It's not Cloud," said a voice beside Naruto and he turned to see Aeris beside him. She was already healing him and after a few seconds Naruto was back on his feet.

"Then who..." began Naruto but then he trailed off. "It's the physical manifestation of the Jenova cells inside him, isn't it?"

Aeris nodded.

"Great, just great."

The anti-Cloud moved back to his original position, his sword leaning on the ground in front of him and both his hands on the handle. He looked like a guardian but Naruto knew better. "I wonder what's behind those doors he's guarding?" asked Aeris.

"Cloud's memories," answered Kyuubi. Naruto nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean?" asked Aeris.

"When the Jenova cells were injected into Cloud, he was then stuffed inside a mako tank for 5 years. The cells had ample time to create a new persona. To make sure that his real self was suppressed, Jenova shut away his memories. That's what is behind the door," explained Naruto.

"So if we defeat this persona and release Cloud's memories?" asked Aeris.

"Then Cloud will return to his former self. All his memories will reinsert themselves into his mind. The Jenova cells should become inert when the manifestation is beaten," said Kyuubi.

"Will that work for Sephiroth?" asked Naruto.

Kyuubi shook her head. "No. Because he was injected with the cells when he was still inside his mother's womb, the cells are more ingrained into his body and mind. Defeating the Jenova persona will most certainly kill the host. The only way is to replace the cells with something similar."

"I see." Naruto then looked at the anti-Cloud. "I guess it's time to throw this party crasher out."

Naruto looked at Kyuubi who knew instantly what he wanted. She poofed into the sword and Naruto rushed the anti-Cloud. He brought his sword around in a quick slash but anti-Cloud was already in a block position. The two collided into a deadlock for a few seconds before Naruto loosened the pressure for a fraction of a second. Anti-Cloud stumbled forward, only to receive the handle of Naruto's sword into its face. It stumbled back a few paces before recovering. Naruto pointed the sword at anti-Cloud and waited for it to make a move.

They both charged at each other and engaged in a terrific fight. Blow after blow was struck and after several seconds anti-Cloud began to get the advantage. Naruto jumped away before activating his first level Kikangan and streaked back to anti-Cloud.

Naruto went in for a stab but anti-Cloud blocked it, however only just. He brought his weapon around to try to counter attack but Naruto was a step in front and brought his sword to change anti-Cloud's strike away from him. The two exchanged several high speed blows before Naruto brought in a two handed swing and struck anti-Cloud off his feet, sending him flying into the doors. A loud resounding clang sounded through the room as anti-Cloud came in contact. A large cloud of dust and debris was thrown up.

For several seconds, nothing happened. Naruto, who had been waiting in a guard stance, relaxed slightly, before going tense again. For inside the dust cloud were several purple black spirals of energy that twisted in a quadruple helix. The dust was blown away, revealing anti-Cloud's real form.

He still looked the same in shape but that was where all similarities ended. His whole body had turned to a dark, pulsing purple colour. His eyeballs were completely yellow. And he had a sick smirk on his face. The sword had changed into some kind of hybrid of metal and disfigured flesh. And attached to his left side was a black feathered wing.

"You're never going to meet any girls with that ugly face," Naruto taunted. It seemed to do the trick and the monstrosity shot towards Naruto, it's speed much faster now. Naruto had a split second to jump to his Kikangan's second level before the two met. Sparks flew as they clashed into another deadlock. Anti-Cloud tried to push through the lock but Naruto pushed chakra into his sword and sliced through anti-Cloud's sword. The tip piece spun through the air away from the two and Naruto flashed his sword at amazing speeds across anti-Cloud. Wherever Naruto sliced a glowing blue line appeared on anti-Cloud's body after several strikes Naruto backed off slightly. Anti-Cloud was covered in bright blue lines. Naruto then finished the job by powering up an enhanced pure chakra Rasengan straight through anti-Cloud. Blue cracks began to creep over anti-Cloud's body before he blew into a million pieces. The remaining pieces dissolved into fine blue energy mist.

As soon as anti-Cloud had been defeated, the markings on the door slowly faded right off. Then with a loud creaking the doors slowly opened. A rush of wind swept through the room before it calmed down.

Naruto sighed. "I'm glad that's over. Cloud should be back to normal. Well, normal including his new past memories." As soon as he had finished saying that a small burst of white light appeared in the middle of the room and stayed there, like a tear in space.

"Hey guys? I think that's our ticket out of here," said Naruto as he and Kyuubi walked over to the light, followed closely by Aeris. We were soon surrounding the small swirling portal of light.

"Ready?" asked Naruto. Kyuubi and Aeris nodded. Then all three touched the portal and they vanished from the room.

*********

"Hey, I think Naruto's coming to," said Garra as he saw Naruto's eyeballs move under the lids.

"Yeah! Aeris and Cloud seem to be as well!" yelled Barret in his usual loud gruff voice.

"A little louder so the Shinra can hear you," groaned Naruto as he opened his eyes and slowly sat up.

"You alright there Naruto?" asked Garra in a worried voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, just fine," replied Naruto as he shook his head before Garra offered his hand. Naruto smiled and grasped it; Garra pulling him up.

"Yo Aeris, you awright?" asked Barret.

Aeris moaned slightly before she opened her eyes and squinted at everyone who was gathered around her. She caught sight of Naruto who had appeared into her sight.

"Hey Naruto. What happened?" she asked.

"Ah, we fell into the lifestream, we met up in Clouds mind, I kicked ass to the anti-Cloud who was guarding the real Cloud's memories and then we got out. And here we are," Naruto summarised.

"So that wasn't a dream?" she asked.

"Nope. It all happened," assured Naruto.

"Then where's..." began to ask Aeris but Naruto just pointed to her side. She sat up and turned around to see him on the ground, sleeping. Tifa was by his side.

"Tifa," began Aeris. "When Cloud wakes up, he should be fine. We unlocked all of his suppressed memories."

Tifa was about to convey her thanks when a groan came from Cloud. Instantly everyone crowded around him. His eyes opened slowly.

"Hey everyone. What happened?" he asked.

Naruto held out his hand to him. "I think we should get to the airship and we'll all explain ourselves." Everyone agreed and they all trouped off to the airship for some rest and catching up.

*********

Naruto stood at the rails and watched the night scenery fly past. At the moment the airship was just flying around, the pilot still getting used to the controls, even though he was much better than when they started out.

At the moment Cloud was talking to the rest of the team; explaining and apologising. More the latter than the former. Naruto had already explained to everyone that the Jenova cells were to blame for most of the damage but Cloud still thought he had to say that he was sorry.

"Hey," came a voice and Naruto turned around to see his friend.

"Hey Garra," said Naruto before he realised that this was probably the first time in a while that they had really talked.

"Sorry if it seemed that I haven't seemed much of a friend these days," said Naruto.

"Don't be stupid. It's been a wild month for me too. There's so much going on, we get distracted easily," replied Garra, assuring his friend that he wasn't offended at the inattention on their friendship.

"Has it really been a month?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah. Feels longer though," said the red haired ninja.

"How are things between you and Nibi?" Naruto asked, who had always had a slight suspicion that the two of them would get together at some point.

Garra smiled, which was rare on him. But it suited him great. "We're doing fine. We are now officially going out, though I haven't taken her on a date yet."

Naruto smiled back. "That's great! I'm really happy for you."

**"I am too! Don't forget me too!"** said Kyuubi over the telepathic link.

'Wouldn't dream of leaving you out of this little talk,' answered Naruto.

_**"What about me?"**_ asked Nibi.

_'You too,'_ replied Garra. He then took his eyes off Naruto and turned them to the landscape below. They were currently flying over North Corel heading in the direction of Costa de Sol. In the distance they could see the Gold Saucer sparkling in the night like a large golden tree with jewels for leaves.

"I wonder what's happening back home?" asked Naruto suddenly.

Garra's eyed his partner for a moment before looking back to the sky. "I don't know. But isn't time frozen there? You'll get back the same time you left."

"Well I think it's for the best if I went back in the real time. I didn't exactly leave behind happy friends. I think they need space from me for a little while," replied Naruto.

"I see," said Garra. "I still plan to go back on the same moment I left. Just so you know."

Just then the airship lurched sideways and the Golden Saucer shifted out of view only to reappear on the other side of the deck.

"I guess we have a destination in mind. I wonder where we are going?" asked Naruto.

"We're going to Nibelheim," said a voice from behind them and the two ninjas turned to see Cloud. He looked like he wanted to say something to Naruto but was looking slightly at Garra. Seeing his cue Garra walked to the door and with a "See you up on the bridge," he stepped through.

"I just wanted to say thanks for what you did," said Cloud. Naruto looked back at him, slightly confused.

"Aeris told me what you did inside my mind."

Naruto nodded. "Not a problem. That's what friends do. They help each other out." He turned back to the night sky. "So why are you going to Nibelheim?" he asked.

"Well most of my memory is back to the way it was but I'm still a little fuzzy on what happened before we met. I seem to remember that I was stashed in the basement of Shinra Mansion. When we visited before nothing triggered in my memory of the place, probably the Jenova cells suppressing that particular memory extra hard. So I'm going there again without the memory restrictions I had before. I might get a clearer picture on what happened that night," explained Cloud.

"Well then that's good. You'll want to do this alone though. It'll help," advised Naruto.

"Thanks Naruto," said Cloud as he turned to head back to the door and began to walk over to it but Naruto placed a hand on his bare shoulder.

"Cloud," said Naruto and the buster wielding swordsman turned to him, his eyes questioning. Naruto's own eyes hardened in seriousness.

"Who's your enemy?" Naruto asked, his voice as serious as his eyes looked.

Cloud answered after a moment. "Jenova. I know this now. Sephiroth is as much of a victim as we all are. I'm sorry that I didn't realise this before." He looked down at the end, feeling genuine regret and sadness.

Naruto smiled and clapped the shoulder he was grasping. "Glad you know the real target here. Just so you know I have plans to save Sephiroth from this nightmare."

Cloud looked up again, his eyes wide in disbelief. Naruto noticed a childish spark in Cloud's eyes; a spark that definitely wasn't there before his memories were restored. "You can do such a thing?" he asked.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think so, but I have to run it past some people first." He then slung his arm around Cloud's neck.

"Don't worry. I got it covered. Now let's go up to the bridge before Barret gets any stupid ideas of him being the leader."

The two of them chuckled before they left the deck together.


	7. Chapter 7: Operation Reclaimer Part 2

**Chapter 7: "Operation Reclaimer" Part Two**

As Cloud trekked into Nibelheim by himself, the rest of the team was on standby. Everyone was doing their own thing, whether it was tweaking the airship's engine (Cid), gossiping to the crewmen (Aeris and Tifa), arguing over small matters (Cait Sith and Barret) or silently observing everyone else (Vincent and Nanaki). However for Yuffie, she was training in the art of chakra and ninjutsu from Naruto and Garra. They had been going at it for a few hours but had made very little progress.

"Ok, this time try to imagine a blue fire inside you. Then you focus on it, fuelling it, making it hotter and stronger," explained Naruto as he tried to get the young kunoichi to flare her chakra as much as possible. For the first time since realising what it could do, Naruto wished he had the Sharingan or Byakugan. He immediately crushed that wish without mercy. There was no way he would want such a cheating Bloodline Limit doujutsu as the Sharingan.

Yuffie was really trying. Sweat was pouring down her forehead as she crouched slightly with her hands in the traditional palms and fingers together hand seal for charging a chakra flare. There was something happening around her but it seemed that something was blocking the chakra from escaping fully. The amount that was escaping was very miniscule as only a slight wavering in the air around her could be seen.

"Ok, you can stop now," said Naruto and Yuffie let out an explosive breath and fell over, panting. Garra stood up from where he was sitting. "I'm going to see what Vincent is doing," he said before he used his sand to levitate himself up to the lower deck of the airship.

"Damn this sucks. I need the Byakugan," Naruto said in annoyance. He paced the ground for a moment before it came to him. "I need Neji!" he said before taking out his phone and opening it. A quick search in the phone book revealed his world's god's number.

"Yes!" he said softly before pressing the call button and holding the speaker to his ear.

_Ring ring... ring ring... click! "Hello, this is Ken Kojima, Shinigami of world NWS-225. How can I help you today?"_

"Hello Ken, sir. My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

_"Ah, Naruto. I remember you. You're on that mission to FF-007 with Kyuubi and Nibi, is that right?"_

"Yes, that's right, sir."

_"No need to be so polite. Now then, what's the matter?"_

"I need your help."

_"My help? Must be in a real jam if you need my help, but I'm not the one you need to call for help on that world. We Shinigami reside over our own worlds and no-one else's."_

"Actually I need you to bring someone from my world into this one for ten minutes."

_"Ten minutes? Usually you have to get it cleared by the council if it's permanent but 10 minutes? I think I can arrange that. Who is it?"_

"Thank you. It's Hyuga Neji. And can you grab him from the time a few seconds after I tell him about the existence of other worlds and all that?"

_"Very well. Give me a moment to do this. Call me again if you need my help." Click._

Naruto put away the phone and began to wait. After several seconds Neji popped into existence.

Neji looked around wildly for a moment before settling his eyes on Naruto.

"Naruto? Is that you?" he asked.

"Yep! Sure is," replied Naruto, grinning his usual fake foxy grin, however the smile had become genuine in the past few weeks.

"Woah..." was all Neji said before he activated his eyes and scanning. After a moment he stopped. "It really is you," he said. "I'm guessing I'm on another world in the past, am I correct?"

"Uh-huh," nodded Naruto. "You don't have much time here so I'll get straight to the point. I need your help in finding out what's blocking this girl's chakra from flowing correctly."

Neji turned around to see a slightly scared Yuffie on the ground. "I can," he said.

"Great!" said Naruto before he turned to Yuffie. "I need you to charge you chakra again."

"Ok Naruto," she said before getting into her stance and focusing. At the same time Neji activated his Byakugan and looked at her.

"Hmmm... I see... there huh," he muttered to himself before deactivating his eyes. Naruto saw this and signalled Yuffie to stop.

"It seems a few of her primary tenketsu's are blocked. It looks like this has been the case for a while." He then looked into Yuffie's eyes. "Miss, I'm going to open small openings on your body so you can use chakra to the fullest, okay?"

Yuffie looked to Naruto for answers. Naruto simply nodded. She then turned back to Neji and nodded. Truth be told she was a little unnerved by this newcomer with the white pupil-less eyes, but if Naruto trusted him, then she would as well.

"Very well. This will hurt for a little while but the pain will leave quickly," warned Neji before he struck out with his hands ablaze with chakra. He stabbed four times on different points on her body and Yuffie cried out in pain before she crumpled to the ground, moaning and cursing.

"She will be fine," said Neji before he looked to the sky for a moment. "It seems it's time for me to go." He turned to Naruto. "It's was good to see you Naruto. I'll see you in the future... or my past." Neji then left as suddenly as he appeared.

"Hey!" called a voice and Naruto looked up to see Garra floating down to him. He touched down and walked over.

"Was that Neji I saw?" he asked.

"Yeah. He was just helping me out by fixing Yuffie's chakra system," explained Naruto.

"I see," he replied before looking at the young ninja, who was still on the ground, muttering darkly to herself.

"Ok Yuffie! Time to see what you've got!" said Naruto but Yuffie had other plans.

"Hey Naruto. Maybe you can show me what it looks like while I catch my breath," she asked.

"Hmmm... I guess so. It might be better to show you," said Naruto before he got into the stance that he told Yuffie to use. "Ok, ready?" he asked. Yuffie nodded.

"Ok, here goes!" he said. "!"

A strong wind began to whip around the blonde ninja as he began to charge up his chakra. First it was like a thin blue mist was seeping out of his body. But as Naruto focused more and more, the mist changed, becoming more like a flame and eventually a roaring blaze of blue energy that flared around him. The sound that came with the energy was loud. Very loud. So loud that Naruto had to yell his next few words.

"FOR A NORMAL NINJA, THIS IS ABOUT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN DO WITHOUT DOING DAMAGE TO YOUR INTERNAL ORGANS. BUT SINCE I'M NOW A KITSUNE HANYO, I CAN TAKE THIS FURTHER!"

Naruto then began to roar as he released his tail and ears, unable to hold his subconscious concentration on hiding them. The blue inferno then began to change again, becoming more like a concentrated jet flame that rose high into the air. The ground cracked and splintered all around him. The all of a sudden it disappeared. The clouds of dust that had been kicked up from the wind now settled. Naruto stood in the middle, panting slightly from the power he just outputted.

"Wow..." was all Yuffie said.

"Bloody fucking hell!" called a voice from up above them and the three turned to see that everyone was on the lower deck looking down.

"I knew you were powerful but damn!" said Cid who had spoken earlier.

"Are we really needed to help you knock off Jenova?" asked Barret. "Cause it seems that you don't need any help at all."

"I'll say," agreed Cait Sith.

"So strong..." Vincent said, his eyes widened slightly.

Aeris, Tifa and Nanaki were just speechless.

"Wow! That felt good!" said Naruto as he stretched for a moment before jumping up to the lower deck and crouched on the rail. He looked around at everyone. "Anyone seen Cloud yet?" he asked.

They all looked around before shaking their heads.

Naruto sighed. "I'm bored. Need something to do," he muttered under his breath. He looked over his shoulder and grinned as he spotted someone walking over to the airship. It was Cloud.

"HEY CLOUD! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW! WE'RE GOING TO JUNON!" he yelled over to Cloud. He seemed to pause to hear all of what was said before he began to run quickly over to the airship.

"Junon?" asked Tifa.

"Yeah!" replied Naruto. He looked to Cait Sith. "You said there was a reactor there right?"

Cait nodded. "Yep. It's underwater. They'll be transporting the last piece of huge materia over the sea. I dunno what for as those two are being unusually secretive. They seem to want to spill the beans but keep themselves in check. Maybe they want it to be a big surprise." Here he shrugged, making Naruto wonder - again - if he was really a robot.

"Well that's your answer," said Naruto as Cloud heaved himself over the railing. "We're going to Junon?" he asked.

"Yep! Cid!" he turned to the blonde haired pilot. "We have our heading!"

"To Junon!"

The guard at the gate to the lift fiddled with his rifle slightly. Rufus's expedition across the sea had livened things up and there was some excitement in his normally boring job. But ever since then, aside from Meteor popping up in the sky, life had returned to back the way it was before.

"Ah... I'm so bored!" he said forcefully before his eyes caught movement in front of him. He looked in the direction and his jaw dropped open when he saw this absolutely smoking hot woman. She was wearing a dress very similar to what Scarlet wore. Her red hair fell in silky waves down her upper body. She was walking towards him and her hips were swaying seductively; her black stocking covered legs showing themselves fully while still not showing enough. She was also walking with a slight bounce in her step, making those voluptuous breasts of hers that, thanks to the low v-neck plunge of the dress, showed off an amazing cleavage, bounce and jiggle. The soldier was already getting one major hard on and his face had begun to sweat slightly.

She then came to a stop roughly 20 meters away from him. Even though she was standing quite a distance away, the soldier could still see her eyes clearly. Her red eyes. They seemed to pulse and glow slightly before the eye candy image of the red haired angel faded and disappeared out of sight.

"Wha? Where did she...?" said the soldier confusedly but there was no trace of the red head anywhere.

"Was it... just my imagination?" questioned the guard to himself, sounding quite dubious as he was sure he could never imagine someone as... words just couldn't describe her. He was just about to move to the spot where the red haired goddess had been, when more movement caught his eye a second time. The soldier looked up hungrily for the woman but was greeted with a different sight.

Eleven people were making their way toward him. At first all he could tell was that a few of them wore dark purple while others wore navy blue. But then they got closer for the guard to recognise the shoulder plates, helmets and wide belts with the ShinRa insignia on the front.

"S-SOLDIER!" he stuttered before he stood at attention. All of them had their visors down and the one in the front, consequently the only one in very dark grey which identified him as First Class, spoke.

"We need to go up," he said simply in a voice that had little to no emotion in it. The guard nodded quickly. "Yes sir!" he almost shouted before he turned and pressed a button on the side of the doors before moving to the side quickly. The steel doors slid open to reveal an elevator.

The members of SOLDIER all pilled in. The First Class one flipped him a 100 Gil coin. "You're doing a good job here soldier. Work hard," he said before he too got on the lift. The steel doors shut.

The guard sunk to his knees and let out a sigh of relief, thankful that he hadn't done or said anything to offend them.

"Wow! I can't believe that worked!" said Tifa as the lift quickly rose up the shaft.

"All thanks to Kyuubi's genjutsu," Naruto grinned as the doors opened to show a long hallway that narrowed slightly at a corner. A guard spotted them leaving and immediately pounced on them.

"Ok! Back to work! Back to work!" the guard yelled at a second who came running. The second one yawned loudly. "For Junon!" he said sleepily. However Naruto and Cloud ended the fight before it even began by knocking the two out with the handles of their swords.

"C'mon! Let's go!" said Barret loudly before being shushed by Aeris, Tifa and Yuffie.

The group then quickly moved down the hallway, being led by Cait Sith. They followed him before they came across a large platform inside a large shaft going down. They all pilled on and then descended quickly to the bottom. They exited and found themselves in a glass tunnel braced with steel. Fish and dolphins swam past the glass and the whole party looked up to see the surface sparkling a few hundred feet above them.

"Wow!" exclaimed Aeris as she ran to the side and pressed her hands and face to the glass. "It's so beautiful!"

"It is, but we have to keep moving," said Naruto. "Sorry."

Aeris turned and shook her head. "No need to apologise. I should instead for getting a little off track."

The group then continued down the underwater tunnel as it turned slowly to the right. At the end the group could see the looming shadow of the reactor. The only light coming from it were through a few windows on the side and the lights at the door.

No-one spoke as they all moved through the door and entered the reactor.

The inside was quite different. The main room housed two submarines, a black and red one. The red one's cargo doors were open and a crane was moving towards the other side of the room. Naruto and the others rushed over to find out where it was going. Through the next door was the main reactor. But they were too late. By now the crane was dipping inside the reactor and removing a large lump of bright yellow materia.

"Damn! Just missed it!" cursed Barret.

"They're gonna take it on that submarine!" said Tifa.

"That's what you think! Fuck that!" said Cid.

"If we take a shortcut, we might just make it!" Nanaki said.

"Well let's go!" said Cloud and they all ran around the reactor and back into the docking room.

They all ran into the room and skidded to a halt in front of none other than Reno. Luckily he had his back turned to them, his focus elsewhere. The group followed his line of sight and saw that he was looking at a spot above the red submarine. It was the crane holding the yellow Huge Materia. They watched as the crane descended into the cargo hold and rose out again before the big red doors folded in and locked into place.

Naruto turned his attention to Reno. He seemed still oblivious to the group behind him. Naruto walked up behind him and Reno twitched slightly. "What are you doing?" he asked without turning around. "Help load." Naruto, who had frozen when Reno spoke, relaxed slightly as he realised that Reno didn't know he was Naruto. In one quick flash, before Reno could turn around, Naruto had his sword pressed against his neck.

"What the...?" he said, surprised before he took a closer look at the sword. "Ah, I see. How good of you to join us today Naruto. And I suspect that your friends are with you as well?"

"Yeah. You know how this works. You give us the huge materia and you don't get sent to the Lifestream early," Naruto threatened, using his ninja training to silence any emotion in his voice.

After a few moments, Reno began to laugh softly. "I'm sorry but, unfortunately, I don't have time to deal with you."

A slight movement in the corner of Naruto's eyes was all the warning he had before he jumped up high, releasing his hold on Reno. A huge crash sounded as Reno had jumped away as well, making his way to the red submarine. Naruto looked back to where he had been standing a few seconds earlier and saw a robot. This one looked like a robot used for loading cargo. In fact it probably was used for that typically. However, in the hands of Reno, it would turn into a weapon.

"My priority is the Huge Materia!" Reno shouted over his shoulder before disappearing into the red submarine.

"Fuck!" swore Naruto before he whipped his sword to his side and dashed toward the robot, his sword sparking electricity from the Bolt materia. The robot saw this incoming attack and reared one of his huge claws up and sent it crashing down but Naruto activated his Second level Kikangan and flashed to the side. He brought his sword up and jabbed it deeply into the body of the robot and released the stored lightning energy. The whole robot stood still before small explosions blew up several parts of the body and arms. Then, using chakra to enhance his muscles, he picked up the robot that was still impaled on his sword and jumped into the air. He flicked the sword to the side, taking the robot with it. The robot slid off the sword and was flung into the wall, where it did not move again.

Naruto touched down and deactivated his Kikangan. He looked to the others and saw them open mouthed at the display of such power and strength. "C'mon guys! You should be used to this by now," Naruto said before a loud sound echoed through the room. Everyone looked to see the red submarine detach from the dock and sink into the water.

"Damn! The submarine!" yelled Cloud in dismay.

"So they were just buyin' time!" said Barret, furious.

But Naruto was already on the move. He shot off in the direction of the second submarine and within a second, took out all the guards stationed there. He then waved the group over to him. "We can take this ride!" he called out before he descended into the submarine.

Inside there was two Shinra grunts and a captain. "NO, NO! This is terrible!" yelled the captain. "We don't have much time left! I don't want to die!" said the grunt on the left. "There's still so much I wanted to do. I never even got to do my special victory dance in battle!" whined the grunt on the right.

"All right! Then make this your first victory!" said the captain. "Go on! Show 'em!"

"Yes, sir!" both grunts said.

_"I ain't got time to be messing around with you muffin heads so just sit down and shut the fuck up!"_ roared Naruto, using his second level Kikangan to increase his intimidation in his looks and voice. The men immediately shot to the side and sat down, trembling in fear.

"That's better," he said as Cloud and the others filed into the control room. It was a slightly tight fit but everyone was in. That didn't stop Aeris and Tifa standing extra close to Cloud, even though he was having a small panic attack in the tight confinements of the control room.

"Cid! You're our designated driver!" called Naruto and there was a little bit of shuffling around as the pilot edged around everyone to the driver's seat. He hopped in and ran his eyes over the controls. "This is nothing. Get ready boys and girls! We're taking off!"


	8. Chapter 8: Operation Reclaimer Part 3

**Chapter 8: "Operation Reclaimer" Part Three**

After a lot of diving, climbing and dodging, Cid finally managed to down the red submarine, along with its back-up. As soon as this had happened, a call came through from back at Junon stated that all subs had to return to Junon Harbour and that the Huge materia was being transported via the Galinka, a large cargo plane. They abandoned the downed sub that held the yellow Huge Materia as it would have taken too long to find without missing the plane. So they hightailed it back to Junon as fast as the sub would go.

"Damn! This is such a pain! We just left this place!" pouted Naruto as he and the others rushed into Lower Junon. He felt like he understood, at least a little, how Shikamaru felt at times. The plan was that Naruto, Garra, Cloud, Aeris, Vincent and Nanaki would split up and head for the beach and ascend the city via sand and Naruto's flying cloud jutsu while the others would wait in the house they stayed at when they first came here.

"We'll be back soon!" shouted Naruto as the new group headed for the beach. When they arrived, Naruto created his cloud and he, Aeris and Vincent hopped on while Garra used his sand to levitate himself, Cloud and Nanaki up to the top. While rising up, the group noticed everyone below was busy preparing for something. They also saw that pieces of the mega cannon were being moved and transported away.

"Where on earth are they taking that thing?" asked Aeris.

"Beat's me. Maybe they want to set up some sort of artillery cannon in case Weapon come-a-strolling too close to Midgar," theorised Naruto. "Anyway, let's get to the top and stop that plane!"

However when the group got to the top, the Galinka was already halfway to taking off. The team watched in dismay as the cargo plane reached the end of the runway and took off from Junon.

"Damn it! We were too late!" cursed Naruto before he noticed the plane turn to the side and realign itself in a new direction.

"Huh? A north-west direction? The only towns that way are Costa Del Sol, North Corel, Nebelheim and..." said Naruto before his eyes widened. "I see. That's what's happening huh? Cid's not going to like this."

"What? What's going on?" asked Aeris.

"I'll explain when we're back on the Highwind," said Naruto before he signalled to Gaara that they were returning back down.

"WHAT!"

"Yeah. That's the theory that completely fits," said Naruto, watching Cid's face change colour.

"I concur with this. The guys at HQ have finally spilt the beans to this part of the plan. Rocket town is the Galinka's planed destination," said Cait.

"Well, that's that. We're off to Rocket Town," said Barret.

"They are not going to take this away from me," said Cid before he exploded. "NO FUCKING WAY!" he then turned to the pilot who was already trembling in his boots. "You heard him! Let's get our asses in gear and get to Rocket town!"

Our new team which included Naruto, Vincent, Cid and Gaara, climbed up the side of the rocket to the control room. Steam was heavily leaking from exhaust vents, letting everyone know that the rocket was close to lift off.

They got to the top and Naruto sighed as he saw who was blocking them.

"Hey Rude!" called Naruto. Rude himself glared slightly at the group, two soldiers reading themselves behind him. "...We will eliminate everyone who get's in Shinra's way."

"You..." said Cid before yelling, "GET THE FUCK OFF MY FUCKING ROCKET!" He then jumped into the air and came down hard with his spear. He swiped off the two soldiers with his first strike then struck Rude with the butt of his spear. He apparently got in a good strike as Rude went down on one knee. Cid took this chance to knock him off the walkway, but he reached out and grasped the edge, stopping his long and fatal fall.

"C'mon you three! We need to stop this launch!" Cid said before he ran inside. Naruto and the group followed and Naruto locked up the entrance from the inside before he followed his friends inside the control room.

Inside there were three tech guys gearing up the rocket.

"Hey! What the hell're you guys doin'!" asked Cid, apparently knowing these three.

All three turned round and looked long at Cid before all three broke out in smiles.

"Hey! Just when I thought somethin' was goin' on, you come back!" said the one on the left.

The one on the right stepped forward. "Listen to me Captain. We're gonna launch this rocket!"

Cid looked a little confused. "Huh? What are you talkin' 'bout?"

"We're gonna load a Materia bomb in this and blow up Meteor," said the one in the middle.

"Our rocket's gonna save the planet!" said the left one.

"Man! This is so cool!" said the right one.

"Woah! Wait a minute!" Naruto said, walking forward. But it seemed that Cid wasn't in the mood for this.

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" he yelled at Naruto, making him blink a few times. Cid turned back to the techies.

"How's the rocket?" he asked.

"It's pretty much OK," was the answer he got.

"But... we planned to run it into Meteor on Auto-Pilot, but the controls are broken for that part."

"Broken? How's the repair goin'?" asked Cid.

"Shera's doin' it..." was the mumbled response for that question.

"Oh great! What a buncha wizards you guys are! She's gonna take a 100 years!" growled Cid impatiently. He seemed to think for a few seconds before he nodded. "Ok, I'll take over, so don't worry about the Auto-Pilot!" he said. "Go tell everyone."

"Alright Captain. Good luck!" they all said before moving out of the control room.

Naruto walked up to Cid and placed his hand on his shoulder, but added a bit of pressure to convey his seriousness.

"Cid, are you sure about this? Using the accumulated knowledge of the Cetra as a weapon?" he said.

"Don't worry about it. All I want to do is go into space. That's it. I understand that Materia is precious. That's why before we run into Meteor, we'll use the escape pod that's attached to this rocket and escape with the Huge Materia with us," he explained.

Naruto sighed. "I see," he said before grabbing Cid's ear and giving it a long painful tug. "YOU WORRIED ME FOR A SECOND! DON'T DO IT AGAIN! AND DON'T YELL IN MY FACE!"

"OwowowowowowowowOWWWWWWWW!" yelled out Cid before Naruto let go. Cid would of retaliated, but then the whole rocket shook with life.

"What the hell?" said both Naruto and Cid at the same time. Then we heard a very annoying voice over the intercom.

"Hey-hey!"

"Fucking Palmer!" muttered Naruto darkly as Cid walked over to the intercom.

"Palmer! What the hell did'ya do!" roared Cid.

"They said they finished repairing the Auto-Pilot. So, I laun-ched it!" he said, seemingly quite happy.

"Goddamn Shera! Why'd she pick today to get fast!" muttered Cid. He went over to the consol and tried to stop the launch, or at least pause it, but nothing happened. "DAMN! Won't even budge! It's completely locked up!"

"Hey-hey-hey! Almost lift off!" laughed Palmer.

Naruto walked over to the intercom and growled out, and angry tick mark on his forehead. "If I ever see you again Palmer, I'll KILL YOU!"

There was a nervous silence before a much more subdued voice announced that the rocket was lifting off.

The shuddering got more and more violent until Naruto fell to his knees, unable to keep standing. The rumbling sound that accompanied the vibrating reached a climax before everyone was pushed into the ground.

After about 10 minutes of this the rumblings and shuddering grew softer and softer until it was just a hum of instruments. Cid looked at the screen in front of him to see where they were.

"I finally made it... outer space..." said Cid after a moment.

Naruto placed his hand on Cid's shoulder again. "You're finally here," he said softly.

"Yeah...," he said before he busied himself with the consoles again. "Let's see, how's the course set?" He pressed a few buttons before confirming the trajectory with Meteor.

"Well, it seems it's time we headed for the room where the Huge Materia is then head for the escape pod," said Vincent.

"That's right. Cid, would you know where it might be stored?" asked Gaara.

Cid was busy with the consol again. He pointed behind his back to a doorway in the side of the room. "The Materia should be through there. You go ahead. I'm going to unlock the code that locks the escape pod in place."

Naruto nodded and he, Gaara and Vincent went through the doorway. On the other side there was a tall ladder. They climbed it swiftly and at the top there was a circular room with many pipes and wires all connecting to one spot; the chamber with the final two Huge Materia to collect, sans the Materia on the bottom of the ocean. One was a sky blue and the other was a deep amethyst purple. Along with the yellow piece in the sunken submarine, and the red and green pieces already collected, there was a total of 5 pieces of Huge Materia.

"There's our targets," said Naruto before he walked up to the chamber. He took a closer look and saw that a passcode was needed to open the chamber.

"Looks like a job for Kyuubi," said Naruto before he closed his eyes.

'Kyuu-chan, you up to date?' Naruto asked.

**"Yep! Just relax and I'll control you for a bit, like with opening the safe at the Shinra Mansion,"** she replied.

Naruto did as he was told and when Naruto opened his eyes they were now a bright ruby red. Vincent gasped slightly.

**"Oh, that's right. You weren't with us when I did this the last time. Don't worry, it's me, Kyuubi. I'm just borrowing Naruto's body to use a complicated jutsu," **was the voice that came out of Naruto, but was distorted beyond gender discerning. Naruto then flipped through several seals before calling out.

**"Demonic Art: Sabotage,"** Narubi (Naruto and Kyuubi together) called out before hovering both hands over the input buttons. Ten black tendrils of darkness, one for each finger, wiggled and stretched out and slipped through the cracks and gaps in the machinery. After a few seconds, words appeared on a small screen.

_Passcode Confirmed_

_Identified as an Authorized User_

_Unlocked_

The tendrils then retreated back into Narubi's hands and he closed his eyes, only to open them again. Vincent looked at his eyes. They were blue once again.

Naruto then pulled his item storage scroll out and unfurled it on the floor. He then took out each piece of materia and placed it on two 'slots' in the scroll. He then pressed his hands on the scroll, charged with chakra, and the 2 Huge Materia pieces poofed into the scroll. He bound the scroll up and pocketed it. He then turned to his friends and grinned widely while giving off the v for victory sign.

"We got them!" he called out.

"Great, now let's get back to Cid," said Gaara.

We headed back down the ladder and into the command room to see him waiting for us.

"You got it?" he asked. Naruto nodded. "Yep," he said.

"Great. The escape pod is this way," Cid said, jerking his thumb over to the door that lead to the hallway they first entered. There was now an open hole on the far end.

"Down there," said Cid and they made their way through the entrance, climbing down the ladder. At the bottom there were a number of large tanks lining each side of the hallway. Naruto and the others walked past then but out of the corner of Naruto's eye he saw multiple surges of electricity coming from one of the tanks.

"Look out!" yelled Naruto, but it was too late. A large explosion rocked the entire room and everything whited out.

After a few moments from the initial explosion the whiteness in Naruto's eyes began to clear.

**"Naruto-kun! Are you alright?"** asked Kyuubi; her voice full of worry.

'Yeah, I think so,' replied the Yondaime look alike. Since his vision wasn't fully back he wriggled all his toes, legs, finders and arms. 'Everything's working,' reported Naruto.

**"Thank goodness,"** sighed Kyuubi.

By now Naruto's eyesight had returned almost to normal. He shook his head and looked around. It seemed that one of the tanks had exploded, and the twisted piece of metal was now on top of Cid. Vincent and Gaara had been quick enough to jump out of the way like Naruto had, but Cid wasn't and as such, was now half underneath the bent metal slab.

"Grrrgh!" growled Cid in pain. "Damn! My leg's stuck in the debris..."

Naruto stood up and slowly walked over to Cid. "Don't worry Cid. I'll get you out of there." Naruto then fuelled a large amount of chakra into his arms and upper body and grasped the metal sheet. He slowly picked it up and shifted it out of the way.

"There! Now, is anything broken?" asked Naruto.

"My leg's broken... and my pride," he added.

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

"The tank that blew up was No.8. It really was malfunctioning..." Cid drifted off.

"I see. Then Shera isn't at fault," Naruto said before he flipped through several seals.

"Divine Rebirth no Jutsu!" he called out and placed his hands of Cid's chest. Cid rose off the ground and his leg repaired itself while steam rose from the cuts and gashes he received from the explosion. After 10 seconds the jutsu deactivated.

"There you go! All better," said Naruto, smiling.

"Thanks Naruto. I owe you one," Cid said. He then sighed. "Shera... you were right."

"Well I'm glad I was right," came a voice from behind them. They all turned to see Shera standing in the doorway with a small, knowing smile on her face.

"Shera!" said Cid before his arms fell limply beside him and his head dropped. "...Sorry," he said.

"That's all right," she said. "C'mon you four. The escape pod is this way," she pointed behind her. The group nodded and followed Shera into the next compartment. They followed her unlit she stopped at a round entrance.

"Here it is!" she said.

"Hey Shera?" asked Cid. "Does this pod even fly?"

"It'll be ok. I've been checking it till now," she replied.

"..." said Cid before he relented. "...Then, I'm relieved."

"Thanks," she replied.

We then all piled in and Shera pressed a button that closed the door. She then pressed a second button and the group felt a shudder through the whole pod. They looked out of the window to see the rocket passing them by.

"So this is... outer space..." mumbled Cid as he watched the stars fly by. "Man... it's the real thing... I'm really here in outer space..." He then turned to the rocket that was getting steadily slammer and smaller as it flew towards the mammoth Meteor. "So long, Shinra No. 26..."

"So what the hell happened?" asked Barret.

"It seems that Meteor is more than just simply a lump of rock that is pulled onto an impact trajectory with the planet the Black Materia summoned it to. The outer shell seems to be rock, but the large core seems to be made of some sort of metallic substance. It's also outputting strong electromagnetic lightning to keep the large debris pieces from flying off," explained Naruto.

"I see," said Cloud.

"What a bust..." said Barret. "But I kinda hoped it'd work."

"No," Naruto shook his head. "It'll take more than that to rid Meteor." He then turned to Aeris. "When you were praying for Holy, did you, by any chance, tell it to wipe out Meteor now? Or something?"

Aeris shook her head. "I didn't receive any answer. It was as if no-one was home. But I kept trying."

"Left a message on the answering machine? 'Hey Holy! Can you wipe out Meteor on your way back home from the store? It's being such a bother. Chao!'" Everyone laughed at Naruto's joke before going back to being serious.

"How bout we go back to Grandfather's place in Cosmo Canyon. We can figure out our next step with him," offered Nanaki.

"That sounds like a good idea," said Naruto. "With any luck, he can give us his ideas on the upcoming battles."

"So, we goin' to Cosmo Canyon, eh?" asked Cid. "Ok, changing course now."

"Wait a minute! Let's get that final piece of Huge Materia in the red sub first," said Naruto. "We can stash them at Bugenhagen's place." Everyone nodded their agreement.

After recovering the pirated vessel, Naruto, Vincent, Gaara and Cloud entered it and searched for the red sub. Having tagged the spot in the nav computer onboard, they found it in a matter of minutes. After they recovered the final piece of Huge Materia, Naruto drove the sub back to port, loaded back onto the airship, and headed for Cosmo Canyon.

After the long climb to the top they all reached Bugenhagen's place. Naruto opened the door.

"Hello? Anybody home?" called Naruto.

"Oh, is that Naruto? I'm in here!" called Bugenhagen.

The group of 11 walked inside and made their way to where Naruto had heard the voice coming from. The room with the solar system inside.

"Hello Bugenhagen! How have you been?" asked Naruto as he saw the old, still levitating man. He looked about the same, but then, Naruto didn't expect to see any change happen with him from just a few weeks away.

"I've been ok, ho ho hoooo!" he laughed his usual laugh. "Oh my! It seems you've picked up a few more friends in your quest to save the planet. Tell me, how does it go?"

"Well," said Naruto as he began to tell Bugenhagen everything that had happened since they visited last, excluding the private parts.

"And that's where we stand," finished up Naruto.

"Well well, it seems you've been through quite a lot these past several days," said Bugenhagen. "And you've come to me for help?" He then brought his wrinkled old hand to his chin, his face deep in thought.

"Well, it seems to me that we'll just have to trust in Holy, and the planet. What is best for the planet? We humans couldn't possibly know the will of the planet. But Holy must be summoned with the White Materia. Without this materia, you can't communicate with the planet at all,"

Naruto turned to Aeris. "Does that mean...?"

Aeris nodded and pulled a piece of Materia from the base of her plait. "Yes, this is the White Materia. Up until recently I thought it was worthless. But my mother gave it to me so I always carried it with me as a sort of 'good luck charm'. I had no idea that this piece of Materia could cast the Ultimate White Magic spell, Holy."

"So, what? Do you just use it like a normal piece of materia?" asked Cid.

"I don't think so. I think that one must pray and communicate with the planet for the magic to work," explained Aeris.

"But that's what you did at the ruins. I guess then it really is up to the planet after all," sighed Naruto. His eyes then widened. "What if Holy is trying to destroy Meteor? What if something is blocking it's advance?"

Everyone closed their eyes to think about it. Then Cloud's eyes opened suddenly and he looked at Naruto. "You don't think!"

"Yeah! I do. Jenova has corked up Holy from kicking Meteor's ass. If we want Holy to do it's magic, we need to remove the blockage!" announced Naruto, making everyone gasp slightly.

"But Jenova is inside the planet! How are we going to get there?" asked Yuffie.

"...Northern Crater?" asked Gaara after a moment of thinking.

"No good. The crater is still protected by Jenova's barrier. We can't get in until we find a way of punching through that barrier," said Vincent.

"Right. Which leaves us back where we started. What do we do?" asked Nanaki.

Cait Sith, who hadn't spoken at all, now piped up. "Hey Naruto, remember when you told us that the Junon cannon was being moved? Seems Rufus was the one who ordered that to happen. He wants to destroy Sephiroth/Jenova with it. While you've been in space, he's been building the cannon in Midgar."

"That makes sense. There's no Huge Materia anymore to create a large reaction, so they would move it to a place where Materia... no, where Mako is produced and gathered in large quantities. Midgar is the only place that fits," acknowledged Naruto.

"Well it seems that you know what to do," said Bugenhagen.

"Yeah. Thanks for your help," said Naruto.

"Ho ho hooooo! I didn't do anything. You and your friends figured it out," he replied.

"Well! I'm going to get the Highwind prepared!' said Cid before he walked out of the room.

The rest of the team filtered out of the room until only Naruto, Gaara, Vincent and Nanaki were left with Bugenhagen.

"Oh! By the way. I need a place to keep the Materia Crystals. Keeping such powerful objects in stasis isn't good for long periods of time," explained Naruto.

"Ho ho hooo! Not a problem. You can keep them here," said Bugenhagen. He then floated over to the lever. "Everyone! Get on," he said. The group moved onto the platform and Bugenhagen pulled the lever. The platform rose up and the lights dimmed before the hologram sprang to life.

Naruto unfurled his item scroll and stretched it on the ground. He coated his hand with chakra and wiped his hand over five slots on the scroll. Five puffs of smoke later and there were five glittering crystals of raw Materia lying on the paper. Bugenhagen seemed to press a hidden button and the crystals rose off the ground and were left suspended in the air roughly 4 feet off the ground.

"There you go," Bugenhagen said, smiling at the crystals.

Naruto gazed at each one. They were so beautiful and full of ancient power and knowledge. But when he got to the blue one, he felt a pulse come from it.

**"I think it's responding to the summon materia you have in your sword,"** said Kyuubi.

Naruto summoned his sword before placing his hand on the crystal. "What do you want?" he whispered softly to the crystal. An image of an absolutely huge silver dragon with six giant wings. The dragon was flying in orbit around the planet, looking down. Then the words **Bahamut ZERO** appeared in his mind before the image disappeared.

"Woah!" breathed Naruto. He then looked at his sword and saw that the Bahamut and Neo Bahamut materia was pulsing in recognition to the image he saw. He removed both Bahamut materia from his sword and held them close to the shimmering blue crystal.

"Is this what you want?" he asked before the blue crystal pulsed strongly. He then saw something drop out of it and he looked at the ground to see a blue piece of materia that was quickly changing into a red colour. He picked it up and felt the power emanating from it.

"Bahamut ZERO?" he asked and the materia pulsed in his hand, as if to acknowledge what he had said.

"Well it's good to have you on board!" he said happily before he looked back at his sword. There were eight slots on it. There was a Bolt materia, Ramuh, Shiva, Ifrit and the Choco/Mog summon. With the now three Bahamut summons, his materia slots on his sword were now full up. He pushed the materia into their respective slots, making sure to have the Bahamut brothers next to each other, before de-summoning his sword.

"Ok, I'm ready to go," he said to the others.

Back on the Highwind everyone was gearing up for the battle ahead. Naruto looked around at everyone.

"Can I have everyone's attention please!" Everyone turned to him, waiting to hear what was said.

"With the final Materia Crystal safe, 'Operation: Reclaimer' has been a great success. Now our next step is..." He would of continued, but one of the techies in charge of monitoring changes to the planet spoke up.

"I'm sorry sir, but just now there has been a report of a large quake that has been felt almost throughout the whole continent," he reported.

"What could that mean?" asked Aeris.

There was a silence while the techie gathered new information. He then rose up once more. "New information has reported that one of the Weapons that were released from Northern Crater has just surfaced 50 miles off the south-eastern coast of the Northern continent, roughly 100 miles south-east of Bone Village. Weapon is currently moving, it's destination confirmed to be Midgar!"

"What?" gasped everyone on the bridge.

"How long until Weapon reaches the beach?" asked Naruto in his commander voice that he used in the Battle for Condor.

"Based on current speed, it will reach landfall in five hours," said the techie.

Naruto sighed. "Ok, new orders! We're to try and stop this new threat, codenamed Diamond Weapon, from reaching Midgar and destroying it. The lives of everyone in Midgar rest on us. If we cannot defeat it, we must at least hold it until Rufus fires the mako cannon, which he will. This operation will use long range weapon use. Those who can use materia magic well will do so from the deck of the Highwind as it circles around Diamond Weapon. I will summon artillery foxes to bombard Weapon while the Bahamut brothers and I attack directly from the sky. Operation: Paladin begins now."

"Sir!" said all the staff on the bridge while the members of Naruto's group smiled at him.

Naruto sighed before he grinned. 'I think now would be a good time to see what Kaku meant by using a X-35 fighter jet.'


	9. Chapter 9: Operation Paladin

**Chapter 9: Operation Paladin**

_"I see. You're requesting the X-35 be sent to your location,"_ asked Kaku on the other side of the phone.

"Yes. The time has come to use it. And I'll probably need to continue using it after this initial battle," replied Naruto.

_"Very well. The X-35 unit will be sent to you in 5 minutes. All instructions are built in to the unit. Good luck."_ The phone line then went dead as Kaku had hung up.

Naruto waited on the ground with the Highwind stationed behind him. After exactly 5 minutes a glowing blue seal appeared on the ground in front of him. Blue lightning arced up from the seal and a small explosion of smoke appeared in the middle of the seal. The seal then deactivated and the smoke cleared away to reveal a white metal cube roughly a foot in size. The surface was covered in straight lines that looked like a maze.

All was silent for a moment before a part of the cube began to unfold itself. Soon the whole cube was like that. Then the cube began to take the shape of a much larger body. By the time it was finished, you would of never of guessed that it was a cube in the first place.

In front of Naruto was a sleek and very futuristic plane. The whole plane was the same colour as the cube. Naruto had never seen anything like this before. Apparently neither had anyone else. (Design is the same as the F-35 Lightning II)

Naruto jumped onto the right wing of the aircraft and watched as the cockpit slid open. He sat in the seat and waited. Then a screen unfolded itself from the front and on the screen it showed a young boy with sky blue hair and matching eyes. The boy grinned at him.

"Hello there! I'll be your friendly AI assist today! What needs blowing up?" he asked.

"Uhh..." said Naruto, unsure of what to say.

"Huh? You a new guy?" asked the AI.

"Uhh... yeah," said Naruto.

"Well then, I guess I'll switch to automatic mode then," said the AI before he closed his eyes and then opened them, his eyes now green.

'Uhh... Kyuu-chan? Care to explain this?" asked Naruto in his head.

**"It's an AI meaning artificial intelligence. It helps you target, shoot and evade while piloting. It just changed to auto mode to make it easier for you to pilot the X-35," **explained Kyuubi.

'Ah! I see,' thought Naruto. He then looked at the AI on screen. "I'm not ready to launch yet. There are still things I need to do," he said. The now green eyed AI nodded. "No problem! Just let me know when you're ready to go!**" **the AI said lively. The screen then folded back up into the front and Naruto jumped out of the cockpit.

"Ok then," the blond said to himself as he pulled out the scroll that had Inari's 'Letter of Introduction' as well as the lengthy list of summoning group jutsus. When he had read the scroll the last time he had just read the basic group section. There were advanced groups for specialised situations. As he was about to be in one soon, he thought he would find such a jutsu. "Let's see if there's a long range attack party in here."

After thumbing through it for a few minutes his finger rested against a jutsu that summoned 40 7-tailed kitsune bombardment specialists, 4 elemental attack squads; two fire and lightning, and one 8-tailed Captain. The group was labelled 'Long Range Bombardment Specialists'.

"Perfect!" Naruto grinned as he gathered enough chakra for 2000 KB's.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Long Range Bombardment Specialists!" he called out, slamming his hand onto the ground. A large cloud of smoke exploded in a 500 meter radius around him and when the smoke cleared, 80+ kitsunes stood in the field, dressed for battle. The dark indigo furred captain trotted up to me and bowed his head to Naruto, his ears laid back. The rest of the kitsunes copied their captain.

"My name is Gigas, Taichou and I'm the captain of 1st Company of the 9th Artillery Battalion," said the captain.

"Well met Gigas," said Naruto as the captain rose his head. "The enemy, codenamed Diamond Weapon or DW for short, will make landfall in 3 hours. It is up to us that it doesn't reach its target, Midgar, roughly 300 miles from here to the south-east. If defeat is not possible by us we are to at least slow it down until Midgar can retaliate via its energy cannon." Naruto then took out a battle plan map that he and his friends had been working on the past 2 hours from his coat pocket.

He pointed to an inlet that had a red line drawn to show DW's route. There were two green dotted lines on either side of the red line that in the real world would be 30 miles on either side. "You're forces are to occupy these green dotted areas and bombard DW from there. As DW moves you are to close the gap behind but keep your distance. We have no intel on DW's attacks so better safe than sorry. While you wear DW down, I and some more summoned help will grate it down from the sky. As soon as we get conformation that Midgar is firing their weapon, I'll order for a temporary retreat. If the cannon doesn't work then I'll summon in reinforcements, but let us hope it doesn't come to that." He looked to the captain. "Can you see any major flaws in this plan?"

The indigo kitsune looked at the map for a few more seconds before he shook his head.

"Well then, deploy your forces as you see fit captain!" ordered Naruto.

"Sir!" said the kitsune before he returned to his company and relayed the plan to his soldiers.

Naruto sighed. "Now we wait."

Diamond Weapon was absolutely huge. It was roughly 70 meters high. Despite its large appearance, Diamond Weapon was roughly humanoid in appearance, with a distinct pair of feet, hands, shoulders, and a torso and head. It also possessed a covering over the back of its legs similar in appearance to a cloak or cape. There was a red glowing orb imbedded into its chest. It also had three golden eyes and a large red gaping maw.

DW had almost reached the shore. Naruto realised that now would be a good time to start the operation. Naruto turned to Gaara and nodded. He nodded back and pulled out his gun which had a special flare bullet inside. He pointed the gun into the air and fired. A long trail of red smoke was left behind as a red fiery spark rose up and hung high in the sky. Then dozens and dozens of blue fiery orbs were flung into the air with only one destination in mind.

The foxfire pummelled DW hard and fast, slowing it down considerably. However it was still moving forward.

"I guess that's my cue," said Naruto as he fed a large amount of chakra into the three Bahamut materias. They glowed brightly before three large dragons descended from the clouds above. Naruto recognised two as being Bahamut and Neo-Bahamut. The third one looked exactly like the Bahamut he had seen in his vision at Bugenhagen's observatory.

"Bahamut ZERO," whispered Naruto as the three majestic dragons swooped down and landed in front of Naruto.

**"Are you the one who summoned us?"** asked ZERO.

"Yes, I am!" called Naruto.

**"It is an impressive feat to summon us three brothers at once,"** replied Neo.

"Thank you, but desperate times call for desperate measures!" Naruto yelled back.

**"We have felt the disturbance," **said Bahamut looking over his shoulder at the assault taking place. **"I am guessing that WEAPON is our target?"**

"Yes! That's right! I'll be fighting alongside you from the air!" Naruto called.

The three Bahamut brothers nodded. **"Very well. We will assist you in this endeavour,"** rumbled ZERO before the three dragons launched themselves into the air and headed for DW.

Naruto ran over to the X-35 and jumped into the pilot seat. "Ok Ai! Fire it up!" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" said the green eyed AI as the aircraft sprang into life. Lights and sounds started up and the turbines roared into full gear. The jet lifted into the air vertically and hovered there for a second before the turbine flipped to a horizontal position and the jet sped into the air.

Naruto was blown away with how good this felt. The flight was smooth with little to no air resistance. In moments the aircraft was four kilometres into the sky and began to turn towards DW. A separate screen opened up next to the main one to show the Bahamut brothers on his tail. ZERO positioned himself below Naruto while Neo and Bahamut took his left and right.

"Ok! Ai, target DW!" ordered Naruto.

"Locked on!" replied Ai. "Weapons free!"

Naruto gripped the joystick and positioned the crosshairs on the main screen showing DW slowly struggling out of the water against the Foxfire bombardment. As soon as Naruto targeted the red orb in DW's chest area he pressed the trigger. Instantly a pair of blue beams fired from the bottom of the aircraft. The beams screamed through the air and hit their mark dead on. DW faltered for a few seconds before continuing. Naruto veered left and away to ready a second shot. As Naruto flew away he saw the Bahamut brothers unloading their Flare beams at DW.

At this point DW stopped dead in its tracks before its shoulders opened up and yellow energy began to charge up inside the shoulder areas and from the red orb in the chest.

"Shit! I should of guessed that DW wouldn't take this assault lying down," muttered Naruto before speaking. "Ai, DW is about to retaliate. Get ready to evade."

"Ready!" said Ai a moment later.

After several moments the energy finished charging before a massive volley of energy projectiles shot into the air, directly at Naruto.

"Get us out of here!" roared Naruto. The aircraft began to weave in and out of the projectiles that were coming up hard and fast behind him. The jet climbed quickly and escaped the danger area. It then flew upside down and righted itself correctly before descending towards DW as it was now trying to target the Bahamut brothers.

Naruto pulled the trigger again, this time targeting the head. The beams shot from the jet but DW turned to the side, the beams missing the head and impacting the ground a few hundred meters away from Weapon. The earth instantly liquefied to molten rock as the beams hit. The resulting explosion was huge, splattering Weapon with lava created from the beams.

Weapon roared loudly before it concentrated its fire on one of the Bahamuts, Neo. As Neo was much larger than the original, he also wasn't able to escape the new volley. The energy projectiles slammed into Neo and he quickly dissolved into Lifestream energy. The link between Neo and Naruto disappeared, telling Naruto that Neo had gone back to the Lifestream.

The two brothers left over charged in with renewed energy and pummelled DW with Mega and Tera Flare. Naruto came about and was about to target DW again when he heard a crackling come through the comm link that connected him to Cait Sith.

_"Naruto! It's time to go! Rufus is firing the Sister Ray!"_ said Cait.

"Sister Ray?" asked Naruto, confused.

_"It's the name they came up with for the Mako Cannon,"_ replied Sith.

"What a lame name. Who named it?" asked Naruto.

_"Scarlet,"_ was the answer he recieved.

"Should of known. Thanks for the update," Naruto replied before he flipped out his phone and called Gigas. After a few moments he picked up.

_"What are your orders Taichou?"_ he asked.

"It's time to retreat. Midgar is firing the cannon," ordered Naruto.

_"Rodger that!"_ he said before hanging up. Naruto then directed the jet away from the battlefield and settled it in flight near the Highwind.

After 20 minutes of evacuating DW focused its next volley at the direction of Midgar. There wasn't anything they could do about that and took comfort at the fact that Weapon would be hard pressed to actually hit anything from that distance. Then a streak of white and blue appeared from the direction of Midgar. It was a shot of pure Mako, the energy heated up to white hot from the flight, leaving a glittering blue trail behind it. The shot went completely through DW, not faltering even for a second. DW was thrown back from the velocity and skidded to a halt, the earth crumbling underneath it's heavy form.

Naruto then spoke. "Ai, can this jet go into space?" he asked.

"Yes, it can," replied the AI.

"Can you mauver the jet into a position so I can see what that shot will impact?"

"Can do!" said Ai before it kicked in the afterburners and the craft shot into the sky and beyond. Thanks to inertial dampeners, Naruto wasn't squished to a pancake. After several moments of intense speed the craft settled into a controlled orbit. The craft flipped upside down so Naruto could see the thin blue line crossing the north western sea that separated the Eastern Continent with the Northern one.

_"Hey Naruto! Where did you go?"_ asked Cait.

"I jetted into space to see where that Mako shot is going. You might want to broadcast what I have to say on speaker," said Naruto. He waited for a second before Cait Sith gave the OK.

"Hey guys. At the moment I'm tracking the trajectory of the Mako shot. Seems it's on a collision course with the Northern Crater. I guess Shinra wanted to shoot two birds with one bullet," said Naruto as the burning line of Mako roared over the Forgotten City. "The shot just sped over the Forgotten Capital. ETA is thirty seconds."

The Mako shot raced over the Northern mountains and impacted the barrier that Jenova had thrown up over the crater. The Mako grinded on the barrier for three seconds before the barrier was dispelled completely.

"The Mako shot has impacted the barrier and has succeeded in removing the barrier. The Northern Crater is once again open. I repeat, the Northern Crater is now open. I'm now returning to the Highwind," Naruto reported before he opened his phone and dialled Gigas.

"I'm returning to the Highwind. Meet up there," Naruto ordered before he shut off his phone and steered the jet plane back toward the planet's surface.

"What happened to... Jenova?" asked Cloud. He was still having a hard time remembering that it was Jenova who was at fault, not Sephiroth. And blaming someone you've been blaming for years is a hard habit to break.

"It's still alive, I reckon. The Mako shot only dispelled the barrier. Northern Crater remains untouched," explained Naruto.

Everyone was back on the Highwind. Gigas had left the party as he and his battalion wasn't needed anymore.

"How bout we go to the Crater and see if we can get rid of Jenova and free Holy to do its thing," suggested Naruto.

"I think that's a good idea!" agreed Aeris.

"Wait!" said Cait. He seemed to be not entirely focused, as if he was trying to be in two places at once. "Hold it!" he said angrily. Naruto then realised that whoever was operating Cait was dealing with something on his end. His suspicions became clear when Cait said, "Scarlet! Heidegger! What's going on?"

A voice crackled through the speaker on him. It was Heidegger. "Strange. I can't reach the President!" he said.

"Not the President. To Sister Ray!" replied Cait.

Scarlet's laugh was heard clearly. "What is it Reeve? You're speaking strangely," she said, finally identifying the person in charge of Cait Sith.

"None of that matters!" replied Reeve. "The reactor's output is increasing all by itself!"

"W-w, wait a minute," Scarlet stuttered nervously. "That's not wise! It must cool for 3 hours or it won't work. Reeve, shut off the machine!"

"We can't do that! It's inoperable!" replied Reeve, fear now creeping into his voice. Then someone new spoke up. It sounded like someone was talking to Reeve on the phone. _"Someone has switched the machine over to mainframe operation; manual control," _he reported. _"We can't operate it from here."_

"What about the mainframe? Who!" demanded Reeve. No one seemed to respond so he spoke to someone in the room, most likely Heidegger. "Hey! Call the mainframe!"

There was a pause before Heidegger spoke up. "Hey! Why are you giving orders?"

"I don't give a damn about the details!" Reeve almost roared. There was another pause before a very familiar voice came through Cait Sith.

_"Ha, ha, ha... Just you wait, Sephiroth," _came the disgustingly superior voice of Hojo though a phone. _"I'll give you all the Mako you want."_

"Hojo, STOP! The cannon, no, Midgar itself is in danger!" yelled Reeve.

_"Ha , ha, ha... One or two Midgars? ...it's a small price to pay."_

"Hojo! HOJO...!" yelled Reeve but it seemed that Hojo wasn't listening.

After a few moments Hojo's voice filtered through the speaker. "Show me... Sephiroth. It should be near... Ha, ha, ha... Go beyond the powers of science... Before your presence, science is powerless... I hate it, but I'll concede to it. Just... let me see it. Ha, ha, ha..."

"Man! Hojo really reminds me of Orochimaru," muttered Naruto.

"YO!" said Barret loudly. "Do somethin'! Ya big cat!"

Sith bowed his head. "We're sunk. Hojo's doing this on his own..."

Then a startled cry came from Reeve's end. Sounded like Scarlet. Then Heidegger spoke up. "I don't like this..." he said in a suspicious voice. Everyone in the room came to the same conclusion. Reeve had been discovered.

"You're busted Reeve!" said Barret.

"Too late trying to hide it now..." Heidegger said on Reeve's end.

"Can't you stop the Mako reactor?" asked Cloud.

"...We can't stop it," said Cait solemnly.

"You're from Shinra, ain't ya? So why's it impossible!" asked Barret.

Cait stayed silent.

Then Cid stepped forward. "We came a long way to get here. You better not double-cross us now!"

"I want to save the planet too! I know that I can't make you trust me, but I can't shut off the reactors. All hell will break loose if that happens. The reactor valves can be turned off but the reactor's have made paths in order for the energy to be mined. If the valves are shut off..."

"Then the pressure will build inside the reactor until something gives out, causing an explosion. Most likely many times bigger than the explosion that was cause from the No.1 reactor we blew," Naruto finished as he put all the pieces together.

"Damn!" said Barret as he caught on.

"But we should shut down the cannon. Perhaps we can shut off the reactors from this mainframe that they're talking about," said Aeris.

"That's right!" said Sith.

"We must stop Hojo first!" said Vincent.

Cait then got that far off look again as he tried to explain the plan to the other two Shinra executives. "Looks like Naruto and the others are on their way to stop Hojo. Stay out of their way!"

Heidegger laughed. "Don't be so ludicrous! I don't recall you giving me any orders! The Peace Preservation will give their best effort to make the enemy retreat! Because of them, I... I...!"

"That's a private matter..." said Reeve.

"The President is dead! Now I'm doing things my way!" Heidegger said with a tone of finality. He then laughed with Scarlet joining in. She then spoke up. " Heidegger! Now I'm going to use the new weapon!"

There was sounds of a small scuffle. "Hey! Wait!" called Reeve in surprise and defiance. There was silence before Reeve spoke softly. "Naruto... Cloud, everybody! Sorry... but you'll come, won't you!" he asked pleadingly.

"Of course! We'll come right away," said Naruto.

Cid then turned to the pilot he was training. "Hey! I'm leaving the ship in your hands!" The pilot nodded.

"Well Operation: Paladin was a success. Now let's get to Midgar!" ordered Naruto and the ship turned around, it's new destination in mind.

After half an hour of flying in the airship, the Highwind approached Midgar.

"Even if we get in there, Midgar's under martial law!" said Barret, stating the obvious. "There's no way we could slip into the slums."

"How bout we parachute off the deck of the Highwind?" asked Naruto.

"That's just what I was about to say!" said Cid.

"Ok. Everyone! Get ready. We're parachuting into Midgar!" said Naruto and everyone rushed to the deck.


	10. Chapter 10: Midgar Assault!

**Chapter 10: Midgar Assault!**

The Highwind was flying high in the sky. Gaara and Naruto readied their boards for the mission. Naruto looked around to everyone. Cloud, Aeris and Tifa were busy clipping on their parachutes. Nanaki looked a little strange with one on, especially with such a serious face on. Barret was talking to Cid about the mission. Yuffie was downing two Tranquilisers for the flight down. Vincent was silently watching everyone. And Cait was looking excited.

"Everyone ready?" asked Naruto. The group collectively nodded their heads. Naruto and Gaara then placed their boards on the deck and stepped on them. The boards hovered off the ground, the boards automatically pulling the necessary amount of chakra out to power the devices.

"Here we go!" yelled Naruto before he pushed off on the board and jumped over the rail.

The flight down was quite fun. The Highwind was flying over the central area and the group freefell straight past the cannon. Naruto then fed extra chakra into their boards and both he and Gaara slowed down until they were descending gently. Naruto looked up to see that everyone was fine and they had all opened their parachutes.

As Naruto floated down, he looked around him. The 'fins' of the cannon were jolting irregularly as if there was something majorly glitchy about it. The group descended past a large brown building and landed safely on the ground. Everyone was fine, except for Yuffie who was temporally trapped under her parachute. She scrambled out from under it and grinned at everyone. She then brought her hand to her mouth and almost did a technicolour yawn onto the ground. However after a few moments she was fine. She had left Jess on the Highwind.

"Heidegger is coming after us. We'll have to move underground if we want to slip past the patrols," advised Cait. Naruto nodded and the group of 11 followed the cat into a side alley. At the end was a steel trap door. Everyone crowded around except for Vincent who was standing a few meters away. Naruto, curious, walked up to him.

"So it was Hojo who stirred up all this commotion after all these years?" he said to himself.

"Don't worry. We'll stop him," said Naruto confidently. Vincent turned his red eyes to look into Naruto's azure blue ones. The two held this contact for several seconds before Vincent nodded. A small smile crossed his face. "I have faith that we will," he replied.

"I never got to ask you this before as we were busy," began Naruto as Cait Sith was comically trying to open the doors with little success. "But why did you offer to travel back with me to my own world after this is over?"

Vincent was quiet for a moment before answering. "There is nothing for me here. The love of my life is gone forever. I have no family. In fact, you and everyone else in this little team are what I would consider being friends. But for the most part I would like a fresh start. Maybe even find love once again. I will never be over Lucrecia but if there is one thing I've learnt from you, especially learning about your past, is that I shouldn't let my own past keep me at a standstill. I need to keep moving forward or I will never be able to face Lucrecia when I finally die."

"I see," said Naruto before clapping his hand on Vincent's shoulder. "I'm glad," he said simply before turning around and walking over to the now open entrance to the underground, courtesy of Tifa.

"This may sound strange comin' from me," said Barret, gaining everyone's attention. "But it feels like home bein' back in Midgar. Kinda makes me sick."

"Just because Shinra run the city doesn't mean you hate the city itself. Home is wherever you feel it, even if it's deep in enemy territory," explained Naruto who knew from experience. No matter how much he was ostracized and mistreated, he always thought of Konoha as his home.

"I guess you're right," replied Barret, looking much less disgusted with himself.

"Well, time to get this mission started!" said Naruto as he jumped straight into the hole without bothering to climb down. Everyone else was a little more careful.

Underneath was a cavernous like room with walkways, ramps, stairs and ladders everywhere. Half an hour was spent traversing this maze before they arrived at an opening with red paint painted on the edge. They then, much to Barret's annoyance, crawled through a maintenance duct of sorts. The duct came out into a train tunnel. The group was just about to move up the tunnel when a cry of surprise came from behind them.

"Oh no! They're here!"

The group turned around to see Elena running up to them. "What are we going to do! I think it's ok for you to ignore your orders now."

Naruto cocked his head to the side as he heard her weak suggestion that they turn back. From out of the shadows, Reno walked up to stand off to the side. "Elena, don't act so weak."

Following Reno was Rude. "We're Turks, Elena."

Elena sighed softly. "...Yes, sir. You're right."

"Come on, we've got work to do," said Rude.

Reno sighed loudly. "I'm not really up for it, but..."

"Our orders were to seek you out and..." Elena paused. "...Kill. Our company may be in turmoil, but an order's an order. That's the will of the Turks. Believe it!"

Naruto's eye twitched as he heard Elena's last two words. Never again would he utter those words again. He then extended his arm and his sword flashed into his grip. The others respectively drew their own weapons, ready.

"Try this on for size!" yelled Elena and she threw a canister of something at the group of eleven. The canister smashed onto the ground and released a wave of intense flames that exploded. Naruto, expecting something to explode, had already flashed through a string of hand seals and called out, "Ninjutsu: Chakra Shield!" A blue energy shield encompassed the team and successfully protected the team from the deadly flames. It was the same jutsu Naruto used against Jenova in the Northern Crater and those flames were hotter than before. As such he was still in good condition to fight afterwards. That and he wasn't on the brink of chakra exhaustion.

As soon as the shield was down Cloud moved to engage Rude in battle. Tifa exchanged blows with Elena and Naruto clashed with Reno. Aeris was on support and the rest of the team watched, ready to switch if someone got tired. As the fight was taking place in a tunnel there wasn't enough space to move around so they had to keep it to one-on-one battles.

Naruto took a swipe at Reno but the red head blocked with his metal rod and pushed back, forcing Naruto to step back slightly. They then exchanged high speed blows as sword and rod crashed against each other. However one had to win this bout and it was soon clear that Naruto was gaining a clear advantage thanks to his ninja background and teachings. After several seconds of more furious fighting, Naruto broke through Reno's defence and knocked his weapon out of his hands. The Rod went skidding across the train tracks.

In the other battles, Tifa and Cloud had reached similar situations. The three Turks, realising that they were beaten, slowly raised their hands up into the air as Cloud, Vincent, Garra and Naruto all pointed their weapons at their beaten opponents.

"So... now what?" asked Reno.

"Now you need to choose," said Naruto.

"What?" exclaimed Elena.

"Choose what?" asked Rude.

"Choose whether to follow orders or follow common sense."

There was silence as the three Turks adopted questioning looks on their faces. "What are you talking about?" asked Reno.

"Are you going to follow orders and get in the way of us saving a good chunk of Midgar from being totally obliterated? Or will you let us continue and let us save thousands of lives?" asked Naruto calmly, watching for their reaction.

"What?" exclaimed all three.

"We weren't told that. Just that you terrorists were making your way towards destroying this gun," explained Elena.

"Right now, Hojo is trying to send Sephiroth more energy via this Mako cannon but said cannon needs to cool for a few hours before another shot is fired. Hojo is bypassing all the safety protocols in order to fire the cannon again. The overload will create an explosion several times what was done at the No.1 reactor," Naruto explained.

There was another silence before Elena stepped into a defensive stance. "You're lying. Our superiors warned us about listening to your stories. We won't be fooled!"

Naruto sighed before he activated his Kikangan level 2 and swiftly knocked them out. "I'm sorry you feel that way," he said before releasing his bloodline power. He turned to his friends. "C'mon! We have to keep moving!"

They continued down the train tunnel until they reached a fork in the road. Hoping for some luck Naruto led the team down the right side. This turned out to be the correct choice as they soon exited the tunnel. A support pillar was built right on the tracks for the cannon. They swiftly climbed up the bottom part until they could jump onto a path flush with the side of the pillar.

Naruto and the others were stopped dead when the ground shook along with a great crash that sounded behind them. He turned along with everyone else to see a large robotic monstrosity.

"What! You serious?" yelled Cid.

"What in the hell _is _that?" exclaimed Barret.

It was a giant, four armed humanoid robot. Each arm was decorated with long, claw like fingers. The thing was coloured in mostly red and gold. And lastly there was a huge artillery type cannon strapped to its back. Then the front opened up and out stepped two very familiar and annoying people.

"G'yaaa, Haaa, Haaa! Here they are!" guffawed Heidegger. "G'yaaa, Haaa, Haaa! So they really showed up! You sure did treat us like dogs up to now!"

"You killed off a lot of my precious soldiers!" called Scarlet.

"Oh I'm so sorry I killed off all your fuck toys!" Naruto countered back.

Scarlet's eyes flashed in fury. "What!" she all but screamed before she took a moment to calm down.

"G'yaaa, Haaa, Haaa! But let's see how you do against anti-Weapon artillery!" laughed Heidegger. Scarlet did the same. "You guys are worthless, but my proud creation is a sure thing!" They stepped back into the armoured weapons platform. The front closed and before it lunged at the group Scarlet said one last thing. "I'll show you the destructive power of the Proud Clod!" The weapon then began to power up.

Naruto turned to Aeris. "Aeris! I need your Gravity materia!" he said. She nodded before pulling it out of her staff and throwing it towards Naruto who caught it easily. He gripped it tightly and focused an insane amount of chakra into it. The materia glowed brightly; the small black hole inside growing darker. Naruto powered up a little more before he let loose a powerful Demiga spell. The whole spell covered the Proud Clod. Naruto then, with a lot of help from Kyuubi, focused with his mind and stretched out his arms. He then began to very slowly bring his hands closer and closer together. Following his movements the powerful gravity spell copied his movements and began to squeeze and crush the weapon into a scrunched up ball. As he finished up sweat was pouring down his face. He had activated his Kikangan Level 2 for extra power but it had been a very exhaustive activity. Even his unusually extra spiked up hair was matted down, completely drenched in sweat.

Suddenly he let go, revealing a glistening ball of rolled up metal. As the ball began to slowly, in his point of view, descend he summoned his sword and jumped up towards the large metal ball. He sliced through half of the ball as he moved past and flipped over it. He then brought the sword down on the other side with two hands, slicing completely through and landing as the two halves of what was left of the Proud Clod, the cut edge glowing with heat from the slice, crashed behind him.

Naruto then collapsed to one knee and almost passed out if Aeris hadn't cast an advanced curative spell on him to revive him. He stood up and thanked Aeris. "Let's go!" he said, feeling much better, and the team rushed down a side alley, making their way towards the cannon.

The group arrived at a similar, at least to some, area. Naruto, Cloud, Gaara and Aeris recognised the area as where they met for the first time after the bombing of the No.1 Mako reactor. The square was different now as there was several support pillars for the cannon. There was also a stairway leading up the side of the cannon.

"This is it guys! Hojo is at the top and completely insane. I think it's time we send his ugly ass to the Lifestream, what do you say?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah!" called everyone. Naruto then grinned. "Let's do it!" he roared and with that they charged up the stairs. There were a lot of them. They all reached the top and ran across a walkway that led to the mainframe. They stopped a few meters away from the console. There were large bolts of electricity being discharged all around them and seated in front of the console was a man with greasy black hair, round glasses, a white lab coat and had an insane look in his eyes. Vincent stepped forward and glared at the man with angry red eyes.

"...Hojo."

"Hojo! Stop right there!" called Cloud as he gripped the handle of his sword, preparing to attack.

There was a slight pause as the scientist stopped in his reprogramming to listen to Cloud's voice.

"Oh... the failure," he said as he turned around to see the group. His eyes flickered over each in the group but when his eyes settled on Vincent, his eyes showed a minute amount of surprise before he began to laugh. "Ha ha ha ha! And Vincent, formally of the Turks. This is a surprise. I thought you were dead, but no matter."

"I think it's time you stopped this Hojo!" called Naruto. At that precise second, a warm rain began to pound down. Soon it had soaked into everyone's clothes but no one was cold as the warmth seeped into their bodies, giving them strength.

"This?" asked Hojo as he continues to type away. He seemed that he didn't even know what Naruto was talking about. Another few moments passed before he seemed to realise what exactly he was talking about. "Oh, this..." he said. He then turned around, forgetting about the consol for the moment.

"Ha, ha, ha... Sephiroth seems to be counting on the energy. So I'm going to lend him a hand."

"Why! Why would you do that?" asked Cloud.

Hojo's eyes flashed in annoyance. "Quit asking me why, you moron." He then walked up to Cloud until he was only inches away from walking into him. "Hmm... actually, you might be cut out to be a scientist." He then walked back to the controls and glanced at one of the screens that seemed to show a slowly increasing bar. "Energy level is at... 83%. It's taking too long." He then continued to type away at the keyboard in the hopes that he could speed up the process.

"My son is in need of power and help. ...That's the only reason." Hojo finally answered Cloud's question.

"...your son?" asked Tifa, voicing everyone's question.

"Ha, ha, ha... Although he doesn't know," Hojo continued before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. "What will Sephiroth think when he finds out I'm his father?" he raved between laughs. "Always looking down on me like that." He then continued to laugh loudly, even as he was still continuing on the keyboard.

"Sephiroth is your son!" almost everyone exclaimed. Vincent, Naruto and Gaara stayed quiet as they either already knew or had an inkling.

"Ha, ha, ha... I ofered the woman with my child to Professor Gast's Jenova Project," said the mad scientist. Vincent's gloved hand was curled into a fist and was shaking in fury. "When Sephiroth was still in the womb, we took the cells of Jenova..." Hojo broke off in mad laughter.

'I see. So that's how it is,' thought Naruto as he continued to gather information on Sephiroth's origins in the hope of freeing him from the clutches of Jenova.

"I can't believe you're the one who did this..." said Cloud, absolutely disgusted. He wasn't alone. Everyone was feeling different levels of it.

"This guy really reminds me of Orochimaru," growled Naruto.

"You made Sephiroth into what he is today..." began Cloud but he was interrupted as Hojo giggled fitfully. "No, you're wrong! It's my desire as a scientist! I... was defeated by my desire to become a scientist. I lost the last time as well. I've injected Jenova cells into my own body! Here are..." he then stumbled forward slightly and looked at everyone with eyes completely lost in madness. "...my results!"

"I won't let you!" roared Naruto and in an flash of golden light he flashed forward and severed Hojo's head from his shoulders.

Hojo's head simply toppled off his body, which crumpled to the floor and was still. Naruto sighed and dismissed his sword before turning to his friends. They looked slightly horrified at the quick way that was dealt with but were very grateful that Hojo was finally gone.

"Naruto! Look out!" yelled Nanaki. Naruto turned about quickly to see a thick, fleshy and heavily disfigured arm clobber him over the head and sent him crashing into the wall. Naruto coughed twice, spitting up blood in the process.

**"Naru-kun! Baby! Get up! Naru-kun!"**

Kyuubi's calls were getting fainter and fainter as Naruto tried to get back up but failed. That attack seemed to have temporally paralysed his whole body except for his head. Plus the fact that Naruto was still weakened from the previous battle against the Proud Clod was still in effect. Naruto looked up to see a heavily fuzzed out image of a pink and purple bruise coloured monster. The others seemed to be moving in to attack it but the monster had already begun to strike at Naruto's head again, going in for the kill. Naruto knew that they would be too late to save him. He watched as the bloated knot of flesh drew closer and closer. Fear crept into his heart. He didn't want to die just yet. He still had so much left to do. He only just began to have a relationship with a woman. He didn't want to give up on that. He didn't. He didn't want to die.

'no...No...NO..._NO...__**NO...**__**NOOOOOOO!**_'

And then something snapped. A flood of golden energy rushed through him and filled him up with strength. He almost instantly regained feeling in his body. And the fist that was moving at him had slowed to an absolute crawl.

It was then that he struck. He flowed around the incoming fist which he could see with absolute clarity. He swung his sword around with amazing speed and cut straight through the limb, sending it flying off the platform. The monster stumbled back.

Naruto heard sobbing in the back of his mind. He brought the sword up to his face. 'Kyuubi. It's alright. I'm ok.'

Inside the sword, Kyuubi opened her tear stained eyes and stared in wonder at Naruto. He had obviously unlocked the next level of the Kikangan. And by looks alone she could tell that this was a powerful upgrade. Golden chakra blazed all over his body. Large blue bolts of bio-electricity crackled around him constantly. His face had hardened into a serious shape. The gold band in his irises had changed to about three quarters, leaving a thin line of azure blue around the outer edge left. And his hair had lengthened considerably. The golden hair ran down to his waist in massive spikes and locks. The top was spiking up but the longer tendrils of hair eventually succumbed to gravity. The hair had a lot more volume than it did before, expanding around his head like a great mane. And there was one lock of hair that curled over his forehead and between his eyes, reaching down to the bottom of his chin.

**"Wow...!"** she breathed.

_"What?"_ asked Naruto out loud in a much deeper and growlier voice than his voice was in stage 2.

**"You've unlocked the third stage of your Bloodline Limit. And it looks amazing,"** explained Kyuubi.

'That's great, but it's time to rid Hojo for good,' said Naruto in his mind before turning to the monster. Hojo was really a piece of work. He was now missing one arm but his other arm looked to be a fleshy trident of sorts. His mouth was wide and gaping, sporting many sharp teeth. Hojo lunged at Naruto but to the blond it looked like the Jenova infused Hojo was moving quite slowly. He easily dodged to the side and sliced off the hellish trident completely.

Hojo was now unable to attack physically but Naruto left no time for spell casting. He sped in low and kicked Hojo into the air, using the Shadow Dance combo starter. He then started to spin at extreme speeds, enhanced further from his bloodline. To the others down below he looked like a golden whirlwind. To an Inuzuka, however, it looked a golden version of the Dual Piercing Fang, but only one of them. The 'tip' of the whirlwind dived at Hojo and drilled straight through him, completely ripping him apart. The many pieces of flesh rained down onto the platform in front of the onlookers. After another few seconds of this Naruto slowed down and jumped back to the group. The remaining few pieces of flesh dropped back to the platform. There was silence except for the sound the energy coming off Naruto was making.

"Wow! What an attack!" said Cloud, looking wide eyed at the new Naruto.

"Is Hojo dead?" asked Aeris.

_"No, he isn't. One more form to go,"_ said Naruto, making everyone jump at his more growlier voice.

Indeed Hojo wasn't dead. For all the many pieces of flesh that had been scattered in Naruto's attack, were rising and collecting in one spot. In a sickening display, the pieces of flesh fused together to create a smaller, floating monster. It was quite different from its predecessor. A quick glance made it look like a genie. A closer look revealed it to look like a demented genie. The main colours were black, grey and gold. It had long, floppy arms, a head that looked like just a mass of gold and grey and its bottom half narrowed off in a tentacle like appendage. There was one out of the back of its head too that wrapped around its body.

_"Damn!"_ said Naruto before he summoned up an insane amount of power and focused it into a ball in his hand. He then threw the energy ball at Hojo and the attack hit dead on. From the point of impact, a sphere grew out and expanded around Hojo, completely enveloping him. But the sphere was strange. Outside the sphere there was colour but inside the colour had completely vanished, leaving only black, white and greys. The monster also had completely stopped.

Naruto collapsed onto the floor, back to normal, gasping from the amount of energy he had just used to create that technique. Straight away everyone was crowded around him, asking if he was alright.

"I'm... fine," he said, still heaving. "Quickly... attack... Hojo with... magic and... projectiles. Time is... stopped in there. ...won't last long. ...hurry!" he said between breaths. Everyone nodded and positioned themselves around the sphere. They then unleashed every kind of projectile spell and weapon they had. Most used magic spells like fire, ice and bolt plus magic augmented bullets thanks to Barret, Vincent and Gaara. All the magic and bullets impacted the sphere but as soon as they did so they just hung there, suspended in the air. All colour had left them so now they were just grey fireballs, lightning sparks or pointy crystals. Gaara and Vincent jumped over the sphere and shot from above. This continues until there were hundreds of spells and bullets at the outer edge of the sphere.

"Now we wait," said Naruto.

"Naruto, how did you create... that?" asked Aeris, with everyone else nodding.

"The technique was in my scroll for Bloodline Jutsus. Usually it's a jutsu that can only be used at Kikangan Level 4 but the scroll stated that if enough power and energy was used then the jutsu was possible for someone only in the third level. So I decided to use it," Naruto explained, now feeling much better thanks to Aeris.

"But what does it do? It looks like time has just..."

"Stopped?" I asked, finishing off Cloud's question. "Yes, that is exactly what has happened."

"Cool..." said Yuffie.

"But what good will it do when our attacks are frozen in that thing?" asked Cid with Barret nodding.

"The jutsu will deactivate very soon. And when that happens, what do you think will happen to all those attacks?"

"Ohhhhh," said Tifa. "I see. They'll all crash into Hojo all at the same time." The implications of this sunk into everyone's mind.

"Damn! That's one hellava way to go," said Barret.

"He deserves that much at least," said Vincent coldly.

"I thought you might like it," said Naruto.

A strange sound caught everyone's attention and they all looked to see that the sphere was pulsing slightly. "Get ready guys! It's about to go!" yelled Naruto before the whole sphere vanished, restoring the insides back to colour. Only about one millisecond passed before all the magic struck Hojo all at once and the monster was obliterated instantly. Fire, lightning and icy mist flew around Hojo as his body was torn apart down to the atoms. It only took 5 seconds and afterwards there was a silence. The only sounds were the crackling electricity from the turbines behind them.

"It's done," said Naruto.

"Fucking asshole gave us a hard time for sure," said Cid.

"I can't believe that Hojo is the..." Nanaki began but faltered and fell silent, not able to bring himself to say it.

"Well, we now know the complete truth about Sephiroth," said Gaara.

"Yeah..." replied Naruto before his eyes sharpened. "C'mon guys! We still have a job to do."

"Shinra's... finished," said Sith aka Reeve.

"Yeah," said Barret. "I still half expect to see someone pop up and claim the top of the Shinra mountain but... it's really over."

"Not yet. We still have unfinished business," said Naruto.

Cloud sighed. "Meteor's gonna fall in about..." He broke off, not knowing the precise time of impact.

"Before Shinra went under, we calculated that time of impact will be roughly seven days from now," said Cait.

Nanaki nodded. "That's what grandfather said," he agreed.

Naruto walked over to the red hound and patted his head. "Hey Nanaki, you want to go see everyone in Cosmo Canyon again?" he asked. Nanaki paused before turning to the side. "...yes," he muttered.

Naruto then turned to Barret. "You want to see Marlene, right?"

"Yeah, of course!" he replied.

"Well, I think that, for a day, we should see our loved ones and any friends we want to see before we descend into the Northern Crater," suggested Naruto.

"That's a good idea. I was thinking the same thing," said Cloud.

"Well? What do you think?" Naruto asked.

"Sounds good to me," said Cid.

"Ok. We'll drop everyone off to wherever they wish to spend this final day of peace. You don't have to come back if you don't want to," said Naruto. "I have my own reasons to fight, but do you guys have a reason? Aside from saving the planet. I learnt early on that you need a reason to fight. To keep fighting. In the brief few seconds that Sephiroth's true self surfaced, I saw that he was scared. I wish to free him of the parasite Jenova. That is why I fight. To save him, a potential friend. I'm fighting for all the friends I've made while I've been here."

Naruto paused before continuing. "Some of you already know why you're fighting, I'm sure. Like Barret for example," he turned to the big, burly man. "He's fighting for Marline. For her future." Naruto then turned to Nanaki. "Nanaki is fighting for all his friends and family at Cosmo. But what about the rest of you? You need to make sure that you know for sure."

"You're right," said Vincent.

"It sounds cool sayin' it's to save the planet," said Barret. "But I was the one who blew up No.1 reactor. Lookin' back on it now, I can see that wasn't the right way to do things. I made a lot of innocent bystanders suffer..." Everyone was silent as Barret paused in his speaking. "...At first, it was revenge against Shinra. For attackin' my town. But now..." he looked at Naruto and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fightin' for Marlene."

Naruto smiled. "Go and see her. Find out for sure before coming back." He then turned to everyone. "That goes for everyone here. Find that reason. If you can't then that's ok. Maybe it hasn't come along yet. But I would think that it would be very hard to fight without a good reason. So don't force yourselves to come back if you can't find one."

"So who's getting dropped off first?" asked Cid.


	11. Chapter 11: Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 11: Calm Before the Storm**

Most of the team had left the Highwind for the day. Aeris was with her step-mother in Kalm, Cid was in Rocket Town, Barret was with Marline in Kalm and Nanaki was with his grandfather in Cosmo. Yuffie was dropped off at Wutai. The only remaining people on the ship were the crew, Naruto, Garra, Vincent, Cloud, Tifa and Cait Sith. The cat was shut off though so it was really only the five of them, seven if you included Kyuubi and Nibi. Cloud and Tifa had left the airship and were sitting outside.

'Ok, we need to think of a way to remove Jenova from Sephiroth. Any ideas Kyuu-chan?'

**"As a matter of fact, yes. I've been thinking about it for a while now. It came to me when Sephiroth's conceivement was revealed by Hojo. The Jenova cells seem to be almost completely fused with Sephiroth's DNA, rather than simply infecting it like in Cloud's instance. The only way to free him would be to remove the Jenova DNA parts and to replace them with an organism that has a similar DNA makeup. Did you get all that?"**

'No.'

Kyuubi sighed. **"I suppose that was too much techno babble for you to handle. Ok, let's say that an object has been fused with a part of another object so much, that if removed, Object 1 would die soon after. In order for Object 1 to live, something similar to Object 2 would have to be inserted before too much decay happened to Object 1. Is that easier?"**

'Yep!' said Naruto cheerfully. 'So how are we going to remove the Jenova cells from him?'

**"There's a medical angelic jutsu that allows me to do this, but the problem is finding a near identical match to replace. Call Kaku and see if he can produce a match for us."**

Naruto took out his phone and selected Shichibi no Kaku from the address book on the phone. There was a few rings before Kaku answered.

"What do you need?" he asked.

"We need to find a gene that is similar or exactly the same as the Jenova gene. I plan to 'debug' Sephiroth, then replace the new gene straight away. Can you do it?" asked Naruto.

"Of course. Give me a few hours to find a match. I'll get Namine to help out. I'll call you when I get the results." He then hung up.

"Ok. Now what?" Naruto asked as he changed Kyuubi into her hybrid form. She wore a pair of light blue jeans and a black loose t-shirt with a grinning golden chibi fox on the front.

"Well we could always play some games. We haven't had the chance to just relax and lounge around. I've got a couple of board games stashed away in one of my Dimensional rooms. I'll haul out some and we can have a good time."

"Sounds like a good idea. You do that while I go ask Gaara, Nibi and Vincent if they wanna play," said Naruto and went off in search of them.

It turned out that they did want to join in, though Vincent was a bit confused. It seemed that he didn't get the point of playing around just before the final battle. Naruto explained that being at peace before the battle would help them fight better.

"Let's face it. We all get tense at the thought of the end of the world. We need something to distract ourselves from the battle ahead. Times like these are precious."

In the end Naruto, Kyuubi, Gaara, Nibi and Vincent sat around at the end of the table in the conference room; a small stack of card games and board games in the middle of their group.

"So what's first?" asked Nibi.

"Uno!" called Kyuubi as she grabbed a thick pack of colourful cards. "Yay!" squealed Nibi.

"What's that?" asked Naruto.

"Well," said Kyuubi as she shuffled the deck. "It's a game that was developed on another world. It's simple and easy, but very addicting." She then went on to explain the rules. By the time she had finished everyone, even Vincent, was excited about this new game.

For the next hour they played a few games of Uno. Kyuubi and Nibi were doing quite well since they knew how to play completely. Naruto however, kept loosing, primarily because he kept forgetting to call 'UNO!' when you were down to one card and kept getting caught. Gaara was faring better than Naruto but it was Vincent who had beginners luck on his side. He was wining as many games as Kyuubi and Nibi.

Then they played Scrabble and Naruto completely stunk at it. He just didn't have a theoretical mind. Nibi wasn't much better either but Kyuubi, Gaara and Vincent did well. In the end, Vincent won the battle.

Afterwards they just hung out on the deck, looking no-where in particular. Then Naruto decided to ask the question that had been gnawing at him for some time.

"So Vincent," he said gaining the attention of everyone else around him. "How are you able to transform into another being?" The blond made sure he didn't say monster or demon.

For a few minutes Vincent was silent before he sighed softly. "To answer your question, you must first know my past. Thirty years ago, I was a member of the Turks."

"That's right. You did mention that before," said Naruto.

"Right, but back then the group was known as Shinra's 'Department of Administrative Reserch'. At one point I was assigned to supervise the Jenova Project in Nibelheim. There I met... a woman by the name Lucrecia Crescent. She was an assistant to Professor Gast Faremis.

"We worked together on the project, becoming close, but that all changed when I read one of her files on the computer. The file explained that my father had been working with Lucrecia on Project Chaos."

"What's Chaos?" asked Gaara.

Vincent was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. "Soul wrought of terra corrupt, Quelling Impurity, Purging the stream, To beckon forth the ultimate fate, Behold mighty Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens." He paused again. "This was a part of Lucrecia's scientific diary, known as the Omega Report. Omega is the entity that gathers all the Lifestream to one point before launching off the planet and into the cosmos. And Chaos is the entity that cleanses the living off the surface of the planet and sends the spiritual energy back to the Lifestream."

"After I found out that my father, Dr. Grimoire Valentine had worked closely with Lucrecia on Omega and Chaos, I confronted her about it. She revealed that she was the one responsible for his death. I wasn't angry with her. I tried to console her but she felt too guilty about the incident and this put a large amount of strain on our friendship. She eventually turned to Hojo for comfort, eventually marrying him."

"Woah! I never saw that coming," said Kyuubi in shock.

"So did you find out what happened to your father?" asked Naruto.

Vincent nodded. "It seemed that my father and Lucrecia found Chaos, which is a tainted strand of Lifestream. They were able to retrieve it and bring it back to their lab. One day, they were experimenting when Chaos became unstable. The containment vessel cracked and several shards of Chaos erupted out of the vessel. One would of struck Lucrecia, but my father pushed her out of the way, just in time. The shard struck him and Chaos entered him. Since he was not strong enough to hold Chaos, he began to deteriorate and die. That's why Lucrecia felt guilty, but I never blamed her for my father's death. I tried to tell her that, but she wouldn't listen to me.

"Eventually Lucrecia became pregnant with Hojo's baby. She also agreed to use her unborn son as a test subject. Hojo injected Jenova cells into Lucrecia and her fetus. However she fell victim to an illness as a side effect from having Jenova cells inside her."

"That's horrible," said Nibi, looking terribly saddened.

"She began to have fainting spells and dizziness right after the experiment started. I approached Hojo and argued with him that this was not the way to do things. We got into a fight, and... he shot me."

"What!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I can't be sure exactly what happened after that. It's all a little fuzzy. It seems that Hojo experimented on me after that. He tried to make me into something more, strengthening the endurance of my body and metamorphosis, enabling my body to transform into multiple monstrous forms. However I was considered a failure because I wouldn't wake from my death-like state. Lucrecia, as a last resort to try to revive me, infused Chaos into me and due to the experiments that Hojo did to me, my body was strong enough to become a vessel for Chaos.

"I awoke later, when everyone had left the Shinra Mansion, and I felt responsible for Lucrecia's illness after Sephiroth was born. As punishment for my inability to stop Lucrecia from experimenting on herself and her unborn child, I slept inside that coffin you found me in, for 28 years."

Everyone was silent for a good while. "Man, that's some history you have," said Naruto.

"Indeed," agreed Gaara.

"Well, I'm happy to say that from here on out, it's going to get better, since you're joining up with us now," said Naruto as he clapped his hand on Vincent's shoulder. "Assuming we don't get owned by Mr. Big Ass Meteor."

Kyuubi and Nibi laughed softly, breaking the gloomy mode. "And don't worry bout Chaos," added Naruto, gaining Vincent's curiosity. "After this is all over we'll see if we can tweak it up a bit, making it easier for you to use the Chaos transformation."

Vincent's red eyes widened. "Is such a thing possible?"

"Sure is!" said Kyuubi. "Being who I am and where I'm from I can say with complete honesty that we can help you with this completely." Naruto wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him while grinning at the shadowy and mysterious gunman who was now much less shadowy and mysterious. "You're not alone anymore."

Vincent smiled at these words and nodded. "Thank you."

After Vincent's story was told the group remained on the deck for a while but soon separated off to have some alone time. Gaara and Nibi went together. Vincent chose to remain on the deck while Naruto and Kyuubi moved to the bridge and sat against the wall and cuddled with each other.

However Naruto's thoughts were full of ideas for the future of his new Hidden Village idea. Konoha had made it abundantly clear that they no longer wanted him around. Who was he kidding, they never wanted him around. They only saw him as a rampaging demon while only a select few who knew the truth treated him like a normal person. Ero-sennin, Baa-chan, Iruka-sensei, the Ichiraku raman chefs... 'Great, still only five people,' he thought depressively.

The friends he did have that didn't know the truth were most of the Konoha 12. Sasuke was out of the picture. Even though Naruto still thought of Sasuke as his brother, he realised that, no matter what he did, he would always steep himself in darkness for power to kill Itachi. He recalled the first time he had seen the older brother. Back then he had seemed so threatening and yet, so emotionless. But now there was something... off about him. He didn't know what, but he got the feeling that it was very important. He resolved to ask Baa-chan later when he realised that if this was something that the Hokage knew about, then there was a good chance that the knowledge could've died with the old man.

Then there was Sakura. Boy oh boy, he had such a different view on her now. Before he would've done almost anything for her. But after that scene at the gate, most of his affection for the pink haired kunoichi had been dashed. And then when Kyuu-chan entered the picture as his most important precious person, Sakura just... faded out of the picture... never to return. She had shattered his trust in her and it would never be earned back. Besides, now she had Sasuke all to herself. She had got what she had always wanted.

Naruto shook his head mentally, seeing where this train of thought was taking him and not liking the destination. He returned his thoughts on what he was supposed to be thinking about. The new village. More importantly, _his_ new village. He had thought up the idea and had expanded on it by saying that it would be a Hidden Village dedicated to training ninjas that would be sent all over the universe so that an accident like with what happened to Shukaku and Kyuubi never happened again.

'But what happens? What will I call it? And more importantly, where will it be stationed? For this new village's forces are going to be wholly committed to Kyuubi's organization. There wouldn't be enough ninjas left over for things like mission requests for whichever country he planned to build this village. Plus he didn't want to deal with the possibility of going to war against Konoha. Despite all the bad things that had gone on there, there were a lot of good things. And Naruto was no traitor. He wouldn't abandon his home village. But that meant he would have to spend the rest of his life being in service with Konoha.

"Ahh!" Naruto growled out loud, surprising Kyuubi. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Just thinking about this new Hidden Village. There are so many factors to think about. One thing that's bothering me is where to build this new village. The village forces will be so busy with working for you that there won't be any time to do things like missions for whatever country I choose to plot my village at," explained Naruto.

Kyuubi thought about it before she smiled. "I might be able to help you with that," she said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. If you can't build on a spot where you'll have obligations to meet, then build where there is no obligations."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked. She just smiled. "Don't you worry. Let's just concentrate on the task at hand. Whatever happens, it'll all be over within a week."

"True, though for your information, I plan to win," Naruto said.

"Of course. I do too," replied the love of his life. They would of talked more, but there was an interruption in the form of someone calling his phone. Naruto picked it up and put it on speaker.

"Hey Naruto. I found your gene. It's called the Angel gene. Basically it achieves all the same results as the Jenova cells. Superhuman strength, reaction, agility and so on. What makes it different is that the Angel cells are dependent on the body and so won't create another persona or fight for dominance like the Jenova cells would and they self replicate extremely quickly so it would only be a matter of hours before the cells in the subject would be fully integrated into their bodies," explained Kaku on the other end.

"Great! Can you send the sample?" Naruto asked.

"Sure thing. Just give me a second..." there was a brief pause before a small spinning glowing seal appeared on the floor in front of Naruto. The seal vanished in a puff of smoke to reveal a vial of azure blue liquid. At one end of the vial was a short needle which was protected by a plastic cap.

"Thanks Kaku. We'll see you in a week," Naruto said.

"Yea, I've been monitoring your progress up here. Good luck!" he then hung up.

"Great! This'll help get Sephiroth back to his real self!" said Naruto, standing up, Kyuubi rising as well.

"Hey blondie!" came a familiar voice. Naruto and Kyuubi turned to see Cid grinning at them. "We're back!"

"We?" asked Naruto before Nanaki, Yuffie, Barret, Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, Gaara, Nibi and Vincent walked onto the bridge.

"Hey guys!" Naruto welcomed. "You ready to kick some serious ass?"

"Hell yeah!" roared Barret enthusiastically. Cid winced at his volume. "Oi! Keep it down! I've got one hell of a hangover!" he yelled back.

"Hang over?" asked Aeris.

"Yeah. There's a chance that I'm not going to walk away from this one so I got as smashed as I possibly could without killing myself yesterday. So I'm a little delicate at the moment," explained Cid.

"You? Delicate?" Tifa said before she snorted with laughter. Soon everyone joined in. Cid just grumbled to himself.

"Well then, let's go!" shouted Naruto as Cid fired up the engines and throttled forward.


	12. Chapter 12: Evacuation Order

**Chapter 12: Evacuation Order**

_Previously on LOTHK: Book 3 - Rise of a Legend_

_"Hey blondie!" came a familiar voice. Naruto and Kyuubi turned to see Cid grinning at them. "We're back!"_

_"We?" asked Naruto before Nanaki, Yuffie, Barret, Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, Gaara, Nibi and Vincent walked onto the bridge._

_"Hey guys!" Naruto welcomed. "You ready to kick some serious ass?"_

_"Hell yeah!" roared Barret enthusiastically._

_"Well then, let's go!" shouted Naruto as Cid fired up the engines and throttled forward._

Or he would of if Cait Sith hadn't called for a halt at the top of his lungs.

"What?" growled Barret impatiently.

"I need your help first," said the mechanical feline.

"With what?" asked Aeris.

"With evacuating the top of Midgar," replied Cait.

There was a silence before Naruto spoke up. "He's right, you know. Those people will be in extreme danger if Holy's late to the party. Who knows what kind of devastation Meteor could cause if it gets close to the city."

Everyone seemed to ponder on this. "Well then we have no choice. We need to do this first before going to the crater," said Cloud. Everyone nodded.

Cid sighed. "Ok, I guess we're turning around back to Midgar."

The sky over Midgar was black and stormy. Flashes of lightning and thunder chased one another over the city. The wind howled and rushed strongly through the streets. All the reactors had been shut down. And ever present was Meteor. You couldn't actually see the rock, but what was seen was the red energy created from the contact of the spell with the atmosphere. The sight was ominous, as the tip of Meteor was poking through the storm clouds. There wasn't much time.

As soon as the group had arrived at Midgar, parking the airship on the highway that they used to escape from less than a few weeks ago, they had met Reeve Tuesti face to face. The 35 year old man was quite concerned for the citizens of Midgar, and it showed on his face.

"It's nice to finally meet you Reeve," said Naruto, holding out his hand. Reeve hesitated before smiling faintly and grasping the offered hand.

"Likewise, however we need to move. I realise that we are short on time before we need to act on the Northern Crater so we'll split off. Each one of us will be commanding a large platoon of men from MEMA (Midgar _Emergency Management Agency) and then we'll sweep the plate, direct the evacuees onto transports and fly them down to the slums below." As he finished, twenty or so large land based transports drove up to stop behind the ex-Shinra executive. Following behind was 60 large air transports and in front of them was a single, black helicopter with the Shinra logo emblazed on the side. The chopper landed down between Reeve and the land transports. Then the doors opened and out jumped Reno, Rude, Elena and Tseng._

_"Hey, told you they'd come," drawled Reno in his usual laid back tone. All of us tensed and readied for battle but Reeve waved his hand out. "Don't worry. They're with me. They are going to help with the evacuation order."_

_"What he said," said Rude, looking calm and collected as usual._

_"Yeah, we're gonna help. Shinra is essentially dissolved so now we work for Reeve," explained Elena. Tseng just nodded._

_Naruto dismissed his sword, as motion that everyone copied. "Very well. It's good to have you on board," Naruto said before he charged up some chakra and visualised a special group of foxes in his mind before slamming his hand onto the ground and calling out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Scouting Party!" There was a small, but expansive puff of smoke, which was quickly blown away by the strong winds. In front of Naruto were 20 small, two-tailed foxes of varying dark colours. The one in front, a dark grey one, walked up to Naruto and bowed his head, which the others copied. The front one lifted his head and spoke._

_"Good evening Taichou. I am Saito and am the Capitan of this scout party. What is your command?"_

"No scouting will be done today, but I need your sense of smell. We need to evacuate all those on top of this city. You are needed to find anyone who may be hiding from this storm. Will you accept this mission?" Asked Naruto, hoping that they wouldn't be insulted to be demoted to simple doghounds. But to his surprise, the grey one nodded and smiled. "My force would be glad to help out. This isn't our first 'search and rescue' mission. We will carry this mission out with pride. What is the plan?"

"One of you will be placed on a team that consists of one of my friends and a platoon of men to sweep their designated area. Each of you is to help locate anyone in your area. We can't leave anyone behind! That is all," ordered Naruto in his commander voice.

"Hai!" barked Saito before he ran back to his squad and relayed the orders.

"Ok, now we need nineteen groups," said Naruto. Ignoring the awed looks from Reno and his group, he counted how many squad leaders there were. Including Kyuubi and Nibi, there were 18 people.

"Shit! We're one short," muttered Naruto before he realised that he could just summon one more fox. Again he gathered his chakra and visualised on a specific fox.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Starscream!" Again there was a puff of smoke, but it wasn't Starscream who walked out of the smoke. It looked like him, but he had golden eyes instead of purple ones. That, and he was a five-tailed fox.

"Taichou," said the newcomer as he bowed. "I am sorry but my little brother is currently busy so I'm filling in for him. My name is Starkiller and I'm honoured to serve under you."

Naruto nodded. "Very well Starkiller. You're to command a search and rescue team. You up for it?"

"I would be delighted, however a past injury has dampened my sense of smell considerably," explained Starkiller.

"Not to worry. A scout specialist under the command of Saito will go with you," assured Naruto. The five tailed fox bowed again. "Very well."

"Ok, Reeve. How many men have you?" asked Naruto.

"I have 50 in each land transport," explained Reeve.

"Perfect. OK people, this is what we're going to do. Each of us is going to command 50 troops to aid in the evacuation. Three air transports will be assigned to each of you. Eighteen of us will actually be searching while Reeve sets up a medical and operation base in the slums to serve as an LZ. Each team will be codenamed Team 1 to 18 with Reeve's team codenamed Home team." Naruto then paused in his orders to look at Saito. "Do you have a form of communication between yourselves?"

Saito nodded and lifted his head back so that Naruto could see the thin collar around his neck. "All my subordinates have these on for communication."

"Very well," said Naruto before going back to addressing the whole team. "When your team has finished their sweep, radio Home Team via your assigned scout. Saito will be with Home Team to make it easier. Is everyone clear on the plan?" He received nods from all around. "Then let's get busy!"

From there three teams were assigned to Sector 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 as 7 was gone and 8 never finished completion. Naruto, Kyuubi and Vincent were assigned to Sector 1. Reno, Gaara and Nibi to Sector 2. Cid, Barret and Cait Sith were on Sector 3. Rude, Tifa and Aeris were on Sector 4. Starkiller, Cloud and Nanaki were assigned to Sector 5. Tseng, Elena and Yuffie were on the last Sector, no.6. Each team was then given 50 men from MEMA and a fox scout. As soon as everyone was ready, each team commandeered three air transports and spread out across Midgar while Reeve and his team readied the LZ.

After about four hours into the evacuation, Yuffie, Vincent and Naruto were finishing up their areas. They were the last three teams. However they hit a slight problem.

"Team 18's all done here! How bout you?" asked Yuffie through her scout's communicator.

"Team 1 is finished!" announced Naruto.

"Team 3 is done," said Vincent. "But Yuffie. I want you to check the Mako Cannon."

"But we already..." Yuffie trailed off as she scanned the cannon and was shocked to see that there was one life form on top of the cannon. "W-what?" she exclaimed.

"Just as I thought," was all Vincent said.

"Hold on! This is crazy! There's no way anyone could be up there. No!" And she was right. The whole area was the worst off as high speed winds and lightning heavily grinded against the cannon.

"Yuffie, rendezvous with Naruto and the others. It looks like I still have some work to do." At this point Vincent stopped transmitting.

"Wait!" called Yuffie but it was too late.

"Don't worry Yuffie. I'll go get him. You head to the LZ," said Naruto before he also cut his transmission.

"Vincent... Naruto... get out of there! I have a bad feeling about this!" Yuffie called into the air before she stepped onto her transporter and flew off to Reeve.

Vincent ran up flight after flight of stairs., the same ones he and the rest of the team had scaled to get to the control section. The wind got stronger and stronger the further he went up. Eventually he reached the top and saw a sight he thought he would never see again. A man with greasy, slick black hair, wearing a dirty lab coat, slowly typing away at the controls.

"Hojo!" muttered Vincent angrily before he drew Cerberus and angled the gun at the scientist. He was just about to fire before a lightning bolt struck a large tower above him. Vincent was almost blasted off the walkway from the explosion. He looked up to see that Hojo had disappeared from the console. He wasn't anywhere on the platform.

Vincent stood up straight and surveyed around him before he caught sight of a secondary explosion. One that sent a very large piece of heavy piping straight for him.

"Vincent!" called a person, and the red eyes man turned to see Naruto racing toward him on an air speeder. There was one in each air transport. Vincent quickly ran to the edge and jumped off, before grabbing Naruto and holding onto him as they sped away from the ruin behind them.

None of them noticed the monitor where Hojo was typing away, flash several words on the display.

_Start -_

_- fragment program_

"Damnit Vincent! At least wait for me next time!" yelled Naruto as they descended through the ruined remains of Sector 7.

"Sorry, but Hojo was there," announced Vincent.

"What? Hojo? Didn't we own him already?" asked Naruto, confused.

"I thought we did," was the answer he received.

"Well did you finish him off?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't get a chance to. The whole structure was falling apart around me. The next moment, he disappeared," said Vincent.

"Great! That's all we need. Ho-fricking-jo running around, causing destruction and mayhem once again," said Naruto sarcastically. "Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll die in the ensuing storm."

"Maybe," was all Vincent said as they landed at the LZ located near the Sector 6 playground. The place was packed. People running to and fro, trying to help everyone. Naruto spotted Saito and walked over to him.

"Saito! Is everyone in?" asked Naruto.

"All 18 teams have been accounted for," reported the fox.

"Good. You and your subordinates may return now," said Naruto.

"Yes Taichou," Saito replied before he, his team and Starkiller returned to the summoning realm.

"Hey there!" called a voice and Naruto turned to see the rest of his friends walk over.

"We'll rest here for tonight. We need to help set up shelters for these people and everyone's bound to be a little tired after that. We'll set out for the Northern Crater tomorrow," announced Naruto. Everyone agreed on this before they all spread out to help out.


	13. Chapter 13: Descending the Crater

**Chapter 13: Descending the Crater**

As soon as Naruto and Garra's phone indicated it was mid-morning, the group set out for the Northern Crater. It was a sombre silence while they ate their breakfast. Nobody said anything, not even the Turks who had joined them for the meal. Of course, that's not to say it wasn't completely silent around them.

There were currently close to 10,000 people that were evacuated from the top plates. And they were all separated off into 5 camps. 2500 people were clamouring around, being served breakfast too, which consisted of porridge.

As speed was essential, Cid pressed a button that activated the rocket boosters on the Highwind, enabling them to get to the Crater much more quickly than before. Now they stood on the deck, looking at the crater below them.

It was a barren and desolate place. The only signs of life were the odd monster crawling over the rocks and deep fissures where white and green steam wafted out. The Lifestream was probably bubbling close under the surface. The crater was almost inaccessible and so the Highwind needed to hover over the peak as there were no landing spots.

"Ok people, this is it! That old bitch Jenova is waiting for us down in this hole. Let's go kick her butt off this planet!" called Naruto, which was met by yells of approval by the others. They then began their decent.

At first it was a bit of a rocky start. The angle suddenly dipped sharply, making the team start running down the top inside of the crater quickly, eventually having to jump onto a large rock platform that existed deep in the crater.

"Whow! Everybody still here?" asked Naruto. They all looked around to make sure nobody was left behind. Cloud was looking around the place, taking it all in. Barret stood still, ready to lash out at anything that would attack the group. Tifa, Aeris and Yuffie were nervous, Cid stood confidently, smoking a cigarette, Vincent, calm and collected as usual. And Garra was the same as Vincent, but looked more alert, his hand resting on the handle of his gun.

Naruto noticed a feeling around him. It was as if the air was charged with a sense of foreboding. "Does anyone else feel that? Or is it just me?" he asked his friends.

"No, I too sense that something is down there," replied Vincent.

"Aeris, are you getting anything from the planet?" asked Cloud.

"There is nothing. No whispering, no talking, no warnings. Just silence," replied Aeris, very unnerved by this discovery.

"That's strange. And we're so close to the Lifestream too," murmured Cait.

The group then began to make their way down. The place was just as barren as outside but the area was infested with monsters. However thanks to Naruto's Kage Bunshin clones they managed to get past while the clones either distracted the monsters or lured them away from the main party. The path wasn't very good either; in several places the path was just wide rock platforms. Naruto at one time looked over the edge of the rock platform they were currently on and saw a bright green pulsing light at the very bottom with wisps of green mist flashing up and past the group at high speeds.

Lower down they came to a maze like area that took a while to navigate. Naruto applied his clones here too and they distracted the monsters while providing info on where to go next. And so they continued down, through caves and over platforms. Then the party came to a fork in the road in the next area.

"Guess we have no choice but to split into two groups," said Naruto, looking around at everyone and judging who would go in which direction.

"Ok! Who has healing materia?" asked Naruto. Tifa and Aeris raised their hands. "Right. You two will be in different groups as its common sense to have a healer in each group." As he said this, he thought of Tsunade and how she, in her prime, had argued for a medic to be placed in each group of ninja, to bring down mortality rates.

"Aeris will be in group one while Tifa will be in group two." Naruto then looked around and saw that almost everyone could be split evenly. "Right. Vincent in group one and Garra in group two. Barret in group one and Cid in group two. That's two long range fighters in each group. Yuffie in group one and Cait in group two. I will be in charge of group one and Cloud will be in charge of group two. Nanaki, you come with me." Everyone split into their groups.

"Ok, we'll take the left path. Hopefully the two paths will rejoin each other. If not, backtrack and meet up with us. We'll do the same if we run across a dead end. Let's move out!"

The path that Naruto and his group took winded around a giant stalactite hanging from the cave ceiling as they were no longer in the crater, but under it. Here and there the walls of the cavern glowed brightly in shades of blue, green and red—infused with the Lifestream. The whole view could be considered beautiful except that foul feeling that had been intensifying the further down they went was ruining the moment. They reached the bottom and made their way through the remains of giant eggshells. Whatever hatched out of these things, the group had no wishes to meet up with them.

They moved to where fiery orange light seemed to be flowing out of a passage. Naruto looked around to see if there were any other entrances accessible but there were none. Inside the group found themselves walking on a long snakelike skeleton. The remains rested against the ledge and then wound their way down another tall pillar of rock, the serpent's final resting place. With no other way down, the companions ran across the skeleton's ribbed spine until they reached the bottom, and then started to hurry on.

Naruto was sure that this was the area where the second group would arrive at as there was a second tunnel leading elsewhere. Naruto made his way around the very edge of the hole and looked in. Green Lifestream energy was swirling chaotically around the hole and inside he saw several stone platforms that seemed to be just hanging there in midair.

**"Magic forces must be holding the rocks in place,"** said Kyuubi.

"Hey!" called a voice and Naruto turned to see Cloud and his group clamber through the second tunnel.

"Hey yourself! Glad to see you're all still there," replied Naruto.

Cloud's group moved over to where we were and peered inside. "This is the centre of the Planet...?" Cloud asked.

"I don't think so. More like the closest edge to the centre before the point of no return," replied Naruto.

"We finally made it here," said Nanaki, his voice filled with wonder. Aeris looked on in awe.

"This is it," said Tifa.

"Awright, this's the last dance!" yelled Barret.

"I ain't being your dance partner!" called Cloud, earning a laugh from everyone.

"It feels like we made it as far as we can," said Yuffie.

"Hmm... Being with you all is not so bad," said Vincent with a small smile on his face.

"Well you might as well get used to it cause we're going to be spending a lot of time together," said Naruto before turning to everyone. "Ok, let's get moving. Meteor ain't going to be hanging in the sky for much longer so we'll have to move fast," Naruto jumped onto a lower edge. He was just about to take the plunge before a loud chorus of roars and growls sounded from above. Everyone looked to see a huge army of monsters crawling over the rocks toward the group. One of the walls crumbled and an Armoured Golem broke through, its large feet causing the paths to shake and quiver. Through another dark doorway the head of a Dark Dragon slid out. Its eyes moved around until it saw the companions gathered below, and it roared. The sound of its roar startled the monsters, causing them to move away quickly.

"Oh shit..." Naruto murmured as he took in the sight of all these monsters converging on the group of eleven.

"Look at the number..." added Nanaki.

"Fuck! They're comin' out in full force!" yelled Cid.

"Naruto! You go first!" called Barret. Naruto nodded before looking at everyone. "Cloud, Aeris, Nanaki and Vincent! You're with me!" They nodded and jumped over to where Naruto was. "The rest of you, hold them off and don't die. Especially you Garra! Temari and Kankuro would kill me if anything happened to you!" Gaara gave a two fingered salute before Naruto's team jumped onto the first platform. As they jumped, Barret began to unload onto the advancing monsters.

The place was mindboggling to be sure. Green energy was shooting around them, making its way up towards the top of the hole. There were several stone platforms. Naruto and the others jumped to the next platform and suddenly there was a huge ass monster in front of them. It was a blue and more powerful version of the red giant monster that Naruto encountered on the speeding train while trying to get the first Huge Materia.

Straight away the giant swung his giant sword down on Vincent, but he quickly jumped backwards. Nanaki charged inwards with his claws while the giant wrenched the sword out of the ground and delivered two powerful blows to the giants right knee. Vincent followed up with a blast to the face with his gun. Then Cloud rushed in and slashed four times across the chest, creating large bloody gashes in the chest.

The giant then focused and blue electricity arced over its body. But before anything more could be done, Naruto attacked the giant with a heavy cut that mortally wounded the monster. Green streams of energy erupted out of the deep wound before the giant simply dissolved into Lifestream energy.

Without wasting any time the group jumped the next three platforms before another Blue Giant blocked their advance. Without pausing Naruto jumped in and hacked the monster four times before it too, broke apart into Lifestream energy.

Another three platforms later they ran into a new kind of monster. One Naruto had never seen before. It was bony all over with several arms and a long neck. This one wasted no time by turning around and crashing its tail into us. Aeris was missed as she stood a little ways away for healing purposes only. As she got to work, Nanaki burned with fiery energy before charging in and decimating the monster with a combo of quick slashes and heavy kicks. However it was still standing.

But quickly after Nanaki's attack, the monster roared at us and all of a sudden we were brought to our knees, extremely weak. The monster then collapsed after that and disappeared into Lifestream energy.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Naruto as he gasped for air.

"I don't know, but it was damaging for sure," replied Nanaki who was fine as Aeris had just cast a major healing spell on him. Soon the whole team was back on track. Looking down Naruto saw that there was one last platform. There was nowhere to go from there. The platform was large but covered only a tiny portion of the pool's surface, hovering twenty metres above the pool.

The platform was made up of a number of square pillars that rose in uneven levels. It was quiet this far down the crater; they could hear nothing except for the movements of the Lifestream below. Clouds of steam rose from below, shrouding the platform in an unnatural glow. Naruto walked forward, his footsteps echoing loudly.

"Where are we?" asked Cloud.

"I don't know, but I've got a feeling we're not alone here," replied Naruto. The others could feel it too. There was an odd calmness around them, despite the chaotic energy surrounding where they stood. But the feeling of dread had risen to a max level that was sickening. Naruto guessed that the source of the feeling was very nearby.

There was a sudden screech from in front of them. They all turned to the direction of the noise. There was something rising up from beneath the Lifestream. The surface bubbled and swelled and then fell away in waves as the creature that had been hiding inside broke the surface and rose up swiftly.

"There's the bitch!" shouted Naruto as the group looked on into the face of Jenova, but she looked entirely different. Before she had been a tall monster shrouded in folds of flesh, giant and terrifying. Now she was a giant, bloated ball. She had gorged on the Lifestream so that her body had become round and swollen. Flakes of petal-shaped flesh rose out around her head and over her body, rising and falling as she breathed. It was disgusting to look at and the putrid feeling began to intensify.

The scariest thing of all was her face. That horrible face that was stretched out into an eternal scream. The sight of it reminded Naruto of Hojo in his second form, his body twisted by Jenova's cells. That face, long and stretched, with eyes that were covered in a thin, fleshy film that stared at the group. They could feel her hate and her hunger through her eyes alone. Two long, vine-like tentacles reached up from just beneath her head and hung there, suspended and ready. Naruto glared at Jenova; mako dripping from her mouth.

"Here we go!" roared Naruto as Jenova charged them. But before anyone could do anything, Cloud rushed forward, his Buster sword gleaming with power.

He began to hack and slash Jenova with such ferocity that there was no way that the pink bubble monster could block it. Bits and pieces of Jenova flew off with every cut and slash that Cloud made. It was awe inspiring to watch him go. Naruto didn't even think to go and help out; so mesmerised by the power of this attack he was. He wasn't the only one. Vincent, Nanaki and Aeris were as well.

Eventually Cloud raised his sword above his head and brought it crashing down on Jenova. It was damaging, but Jenova was still alive. The good thing was that both tentacles were cut off from the attack.

So Naruto focused a very small amount of chakra into the Ultima materia and cast the spell on Jenova. The effects were huge. A gargantuan amount of pure destructive energy pummelled Jenova hard and fast. It was all over in a matter of seconds, but when the light cleared away, there was nothing left of Jenova.

"Woah!" Naruto gasped as he turned over the amount of power that had come from the spell, which wasn't even powered up much. He then looked at Cloud, who was panting slightly from the blistering combo he just unleashed. "That was a sweet move Cloud!" he said. Cloud turned around and looked about to speak when the ground began to rumble and quake beneath their feet.

"Wha-what's going on!" called Aeris in fright. Cloud made his way over to where she was and held her tight to keep her from falling over. "It's ok! I'm here!" he yelled over the accompanying roar that seemed to come from everywhere. The giant chunks of rock that surrounded the platform crumbled and fell down into the Lifestream below. The rising square pillars on which they stood separated, some of them falling down into the Lifestream while others floated upwards. Naruto saw Nanaki leap back as the pillar he was standing on rose rapidly upwards.

A bright light flashed, and the ground beneath Naruto's feet disappeared. The swordsman found himself falling, cool air rushing past his face. The bright light of the Lifestream rushed up to meet him. Naruto closed his eyes against the light.

Naruto opened his eyes as he sensed that he was no longer surrounded by blinding light. He instantly spotted a light blue light that was pulsing very slowly. It was a small light, but it cut through the unending darkness. Naruto looked into it. Though it was only a small light, trapped by the darkness, he could feel immense power pulsing within it, yearning to break free.

"You must be Holy..." said Naruto out loud. Before he could reach it, a harsher, brighter light flashed and took hold of him. It yanked him away, dragging him away from Holy. Then he was lying on some fleshy substance. Naruto looked around to see that everyone was here. Not just the team that he had chosen to lead the way, but the others as well.

"Oww... damn, man!" groaned Barret as he sat up.

"Hey Barret!" Naruto called as everyone began to wake up.

"What...? So everyone's together again...?" asked Barret.

"Looks like it," replied Vincent.

Naruto then took a good look around. They had landed at the bottom of a large, cavernous pit, the true bottom of the Northern Cave deep beneath the Lifestream. Tall, rocky walls surrounded them on all sides, rising so high up above them they could not see where they led. Dozens of floating platforms of rock were dotted about the cavern, some close together, while others were further apart. Naruto and Cloud were on two of the podiums closest to the bottom of the cavern. But the platforms weren't made of stone, but of hard, red flesh.

And in the centre was Holy. But wrapped around the blue energy was the red fleshy substance, as if it was restraining the energy from going anywhere.

"Guess we found that cork that's been stopping Holy from doing it's thing," Naruto concluded his thoughts out loud.

Then there was a pulse of energy and they were lifted off our feet and into the air. Naruto felt like his body was being distorted and stretched. He was sure that he wasn't the only one feeling this.

Then, in the midst of all this, the form of Sephiroth appeared in front of Holy, blocking their advance.

_"You've done well to get this far, but this is where you will fall,"_ said the same distorted voice with a strong feminine overtone that came from Sephiroth's mouth when Naruto fought with him in the City of the Ancients.

"Like hell it is! We'll free Sephiroth and cast you into Oblivion!" yelled Naruto, succeeding in not crying out from the pain he was experiencing.

The force that was keeping them in the air pushed them away slightly and the pain intensified.

"Ugh...! Is this... the true power of Jenova?" grunted Barret.

"My... my body... I can't control my body... Uuugh!" panted Cid.

The force brought them straight at Sephiroth and bounced them back, increasing the pain.

"My front legs... my hind legs... my tail's about to tear off!" yelped Nanaki.

"This is definitely not good! He's way outta our league!" wailed Cait Sith.

"I, I don't know if I can... go on..." groaned Yuffie.

"C...Cloud... I... ahhhhhh!" screamed Aeris in pain.

"Nugh! I can't..." began Tifa before she too screamed in pain like Aeris.

"Aeris! Tifa!" yelled Cloud.

**"Hang in there Naru-kun! We're almost there!"** called Kyuubi within his mind, and he voice washed away the pain he was feeling. With his mind cleared, he summoned his sword and pointed it at Sephiroth. "You're not going to win. We will fight! And we will destroy you!" Naruto roared with conviction. Soon the others calmed down as they focused on Sephiroth. The light of Holy flowing through their bodies, banishing the pain. "Holy is there! We just need to bust through Jenova and break the barrier! We can do this! Let's go, everyone!"

"Yeah! Holy is the prayer of everyone on this planet!" yelled Barret.

"I'm glad I'm fighting alongside everyone here!" said Yuffie.

"Hoo-ok…!" Cid said, pushing back his sleeves and floating over to where Barret and Yuffie was. "I can't be foolin' around in the bottom of this hellhole… I still have lots of stuff to do with my life!"

Vincent rose up to float beside Naruto. "Damn…!" he cursed. "I was frozen in time… But now, thanks to you Naruto, I feel as though my time is finally about to begin…!" The gunman drew his gun from its holster. "Jenova, now it's your time to sleep between the ages!"

"Maybe we were a little late in noticing the trouble that we were getting into…" Cait said regretfully. He clutched his megaphone close to his chest, remembering all the lives that had been lost due to Shinra's selfish greed. "But, there's still time… We should still be able to get out of it! Even if we can't get EVERYTHING back to normal!" The cat held out his weapon. "We should be able to protect what's most important!" he cried, and his Mog raised its arms in agreement as they hovered over to Cid.

"…No way we're gonna lose!" shouted Red XIII. The hound shook himself free of his bonds and floated up to join Naruto, Cloud and Vincent. "I'm going to see it through to the end! For the future… And that of the planet…" The hound turned his gaze upwards, to the darkness that hovered over them. "I understand now, Grandpa," he said. "This is my mission! I won't let the Lifestream… or the life of the Planet, wither away!"

"We can win! The planet is counting on us! We have to win! For everyone who Jenova has killed. For my people!" called Aeris as she gravitated to Cloud.

"That's right! If we don't fight then there's no hope for the planet!" replied Cloud.

"Let's end this!" said Naruto before they all converged on Jenova.


	14. Chapter 14: The Final Battle

_Last time, on LOTHK: The Lifestream Vol, Book 3:_

_"We can win! The planet is counting on us! We have to win! For everyone who Jenova has killed. For my people!" called Aeris as she gravitated to Cloud._

_"That's right! If we don't fight then there's no hope for the planet!" replied Cloud._

_"Let's end this!" said Naruto before they all converged on Jenova._

_And now, the conclusion..._

* * *

**Chapter 14: The Final Battle**

_"So be it!"_ Jenova controlled Sephiroth shouted, and with that he rose swiftly upward, disappearing into the darkness that hung like a dark cloud over the mako pit.

When he descended, his form had changed. The human being they knew as Sephiroth was gone, and in his place was the monster known only as Bizarro Jenova. He stood taller than a building, with monstrous shoulders and arms that ended not with hands but with powerful wings. He had two heads, one rising out of the other, both with eyes that were ice-cold blue and devoid of the warmth of life. At his waist there was a brightly glowing yellow orb, pulsing with power.

"Ok, this is the plan!" called Naruto and everyone turned to him. "Myself, Gaara, Vincent and Cloud will be actively attacking Jenova either with spells, summoning or physical attacks. Tifa and Aeris will be healing and everyone else is to support us with either the odd attack, summons or support spells. My guess is there's a second form behind this one and that will be my chance to finish this for good. Kyuubi has a plan for stripping away the Jenova cells inside Sephiroth and fusing similar cells with him so that he won't die. Is everyone good on the plan?" Everyone nodded. Naruto then glanced at Bizarro Jenova again and took notice of the yellow orb. "And someone observe what that Yellow orb does while we're attacking, just in case it's a big super attack or some sort of heeling pod."

Jenova's heads turned and their gaze settled upon Cloud. She raised one large winged arm and brought it crashing down onto the rocky podium where the two swordsmen and two gunmen stood.

Cloud jumped back out of the way of the feather fingers as they slammed into the rock. The strength of the blow cleaved the podium in two, sending chunks of rock tumbling towards the pit below them. These chunks of rock fell and then suddenly stopped and floated in midair, held up by the power of the Lifestream. Cloud glanced down at them before returning his attention to the monster before him. Jenova was raising her hand again, preparing another strike. The swordsman braced himself.

A light flashed overhead, and Naruto's voice called out to him. "Cloud! Up here!"

Cloud looked up and even Jenova halted her attack long enough to see Bahamut emerge from the light overhead and dive into the pit. Sitting on the dragon's back were Naruto and Aeris, riding the dragon as it swooped down to the broken podium.

Jenova scowled and brought her hand down on the podium. Cloud turned and dived off just as Jenova's hand smashed into it, breaking it apart. The swordsman meanwhile landed on the floating rocks and jumped rapidly from one to another, using them as stepping stones. Bahamut flew alongside and Aeris held out her hand to Cloud. He took it, and she pulled him up onto Bahamut's back just as Jenova's hand swiped again. Bahamut roared and soared back up to the sky, out of reach of Jenova.

Jenova turned her heads upwards and watched as Bahamut rose to a safe distance and circled the pit, watching her. Both heads smiled with evil intent and she raised her arms. Flames gathered around the tips of her feathery fingers. They formed into fireballs and she fired them off, one by one, up towards Bahamut.

"**Hold on you three!"** Bahamut said and Naruto, Cloud and Aeris clutched on tight onto the dragon. He dodged, barrel rolled and weaved through the fireballs as they soared past. One skimmed Bahamut's tail, and the dragon roared in agony. He writhed and lashed his tail.

"Wow, that was close!" said Naruto, looking back. Leviathan was not hurt badly—the flames had only skimmed it. The ninja sighed and turned to Jenova. "Is that the best a calamity can do?" he taunted.

His words were met by another series of fireballs. Once more Bahamut was forced to weave his way through as the air became hot with fire. This time he avoided being hit, but kept on moving to avoid being a still target.

Jenova watched as Bahamut circled the pit, amused by their attempts to avoid her fire strikes. Once more she spread her hands and flames began to form, larger and more condensed, intent on bringing the dragon and his riders crashing down.

A series of sharp, painful shots struck Jenova in her right shoulder. Jenova lowered her arms, the flames dissipating, and turned to look at the new attackers.

Barret, Vincent and Gaara were standing on one of the lower platforms, gun-arm and triple barrelled handguns raised and firing a continuous stream of bullets at the monster before them. Jenova raised her wing to shield herself from the bullets, and then without warning lunged and swiped her arm across the podium. Her fingers swept over the rock and sent it spinning across the pit with the trio still on it. Vincent and Gaara were able to jump to a new platform in time, leaving the resistance leader to drop down and cling for his life to the rock as it spiralled wildly out of control. His world spun and then stopped with a great shudder as the rock slammed into the wall of the pit. Barret lost his grip on the rock and slid down towards the edge. He reaffirmed his hold just in time and held on tight.

The rock remained in place, stuck in a crack along the wall of the pit. Barret tried to pull himself back up the rock, but lost his grip again and slid down and over the edge. For a brief moment he fell, before he was roughly picked up and deposited gently onto an outcropping of rock several feet below, thanks to Gaara and his sand. The man groaned and rolled onto his back. He breathed heavily, amazed. He was still alive. "Thank you!" he called over to the red haired sand wielder.

On the other side of the mako pit, Vincent sat behind a recently summoned Odin as Sleipnir galloped across a winding path that circled the outer edge of the pit. Odin tugged on the reins and Sleipnir obediently turned and leaped off the path and onto one of the nearby platforms. Six heavy hooves thudded into the dirt, churning up rock, but the horse ploughed on regardless, leaping to the next platform and then the next. The horse followed the platforms as they moved across the pit, heading towards Jenova.

Pausing briefly on one platform, Odin raised his spear and threw it at Jenova. The calamity saw it coming and swiftly dodged to one side, showing that she was more agile that what was first thought. The spear sailed past and struck the wall behind her.

Jenova moved back and turned to face Vincent and Odin. She closed her wings over her torso, and the yellow orb at her waist began to glow. The air around it wavered, and sparks of light formed and were drawn into the orb. A beam of light suddenly burst out of the orb. Sleipnir jumped out of the way of the beam as it ripped through the rocky podium. It did not destroy the rock but obliterated it entirely, leaving not even a single trace of it behind. Sleipnir missed the beam only by a hair's breadth—signified by the steam rising from his rear hooves.

After destroying the podium the beam carried on and hit the far wall of the pit. It tore through the rock, incinerating it. The blast caused the pit to shake violently. The beam ended, and as the steam and smoke faded away the damage to the inner wall became clear. There was a massive hole nearly ten metres wide burned into the wall, and delving metres deep.

Overhead, Naruto leaned over Bahamut's side and looked down at the hole.

"So it's a super beam weapon," he noted. "Very powerful. We need to smash it before we get in close. Even though it seems to be a long range attack only, it's still powerful enough to pose a great danger to the others."

"So what's the plan?" asked Cloud. He also leaned over Bahamut's side, surveying the battlefield. Jenova had turned her attention away from them and was following Odin's horse as it darted around the pit, leaping from platform to platform, trying to find an opening. When Jenova turned his back, Cloud grasped Naruto's shoulder. "Dive, Naruto."

"I see your plan," Naruto nodded. "Let's go Bahamut!" he commanded.

Bahamut also saw what the two on his back saw and dropped into a steep dive. Naruto, Cloud and Aeris held tightly onto the dragon's scales as he dived. Air rushed past their faces, drowning out all other sounds. Jenova's monstrous blue form zoomed in to meet them, and at the last moment Cloud drew up his knees and pushed himself away from Bahamut. Aeris cried out to him but Cloud was already moving, his sword in hand, falling down towards Jenova.

The uppermost head heard Aeris's cry and looked upwards. She saw Cloud descending, his blade crackling with powerful electric light. Jenova scowled and pushed her palms into the cranium of the lower head. The long lengths of blue hair that framed its face rose up like antennae. Electrified energy began to crackle around them. Cloud brought down his sword and crashed headfirst into the energy.

A loud and deafening explosion filled the air and the pit was filled with a wave of bright light. Naruto and Aeris covered their eyes as a wave of electrified light swept over them, making the hairs on their arms and necks stand on end. Bahamut quickly pulled back and curled his tail around his body, protecting his riders.

Cloud opened his eyes. The light was blinding. His blade pushed down on the two antennae-like bangs, trying to break through the shield of energy that separated him from Sephiroth. Electricity swept over his blade and over his hands, tightening the muscles, but Cloud gritted his teeth and kept on pushing. He _would_ break through.

Through the light he could see Jenova. The upper head glared back at him with eyes that were cold and empty and full of hatred, narrowed into thin slits. Cloud put all of his strength into his arms, pushing down on the shield of crackling light. It was a battle of wills between him and Jenova, and Cloud was not about to lose.

The shield wavered. Cloud could feel it weakening. His will, his desire to protect his friends, gave him the strength that he needed. His blade cut through the shield and the light disappeared. With no barrier to separate them, Cloud dived forward. Seeing him approach, Jenova's eyes widened with interest. Was this the same puppet?

Before she could finish that thought, Cloud was suddenly in front of her. Jenova met his gaze and grinned as Cloud landed in front of her, drew back his blade and then, with a cry, thrust it out with all his strength.

The blade sliced through Jenova's neck, almost completely severing the head from its body. Cloud raised his sword and slashed again, and this time cut the head from the body. The rest of the companions stared in wide-eyed amazement as the bodiless head rolled down Jenova's broad back. Those in range caught a glimpse of the face as it fell—it was still grinning. The head plunged down and landed with a splash into the Lifestream. It sank out of sight, disappearing beneath the surface.

Jenova spread her wings and flapped them gently. She did not seem at all fazed by the loss of her upper head. Instead she just beat her wings harder and sent a powerful gust of swing sweeping throughout the mako pit.

Cait Sith clung to his Mog as the podium he was standing on was caught up in the breeze and lurched suddenly upwards. It smashed into the wall and hung there, suspended at an angle. The collision made Cait lose his grip on the Mog and he fell through the air. Nanaki, running nearby, leaped and snatched the cat up in his jaws. The hound landed on the winding path surrounding the pit. He dropped Cait, who clambered onto his back. Then the hound set off with his new rider, running along the path to rejoin the others.

The upper body sagged backwards, lifeless. With his job done Cloud jumped back out of the way. As he descended he caught a glimpse of movement and turned to see Ifrit slam into one of the lower platforms and then leap up towards Jenova. Jenova turned and swiped one of her large wings, brushing the fiery demon aside. Yet as soon as she did she realised her mistake as Vincent, astride Sleipnir, leaped at her, with Gaara flying through the air next to Vincent on his small platform of sand. Jenova opened her mouth and unleashed a stream of fire, but Sleipnir and Gaara smoothly dodged to one side, missing the flames.

Vincent stood up and pushed himself away from the horse. He raised his gun and fired two shots. Both shots struck Jenova in her round shoulder. The two gunmen landed on Jenova's shoulder and quickly jumped again, firing two more rounds each into Jenova's other shoulder. They did little damage, but were enough to draw Jenova's attention long enough for Nanaki, with Cait on his back, to leap onto a nearby podium and call upon Titan. The summon appeared before him and charged forward, his footsteps causing the platform to shake. Before Jenova could turn Titan jumped, his fist clenched, and struck the glowing globe at Jenova's waist.

The globe cracked… and then shattered. A blast of intense energy fired out from inside, surrounding the summon. Titan roared in pain, and then his voice died out.

"Yes! We did it!" Naruto yelled out from above on Bahamut's back as he saw the interaction below.

The burning energy surrounded Jenova too, and even her skin was burned by the searing energy. She writhed in pain and folded her arms across her torso. The feathers shimmered and showers of sparkling light began to filter down onto the burned skin. The skin bubbled and began to close, healing itself.

Naruto saw this and called out. "Jenova's healing herself!" he called. "Someone stop her!"

"You got it!" replied Barret. He raised his gun-arm and opened fire. His bullets sank into Jenova's arm, but Jenova ignored the wounds and continued to work on healing herself. Barret cursed and used his Fire materia to add more power to his bullets. The bullets did damage, piercing and burning the flesh of her shoulders. A hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around. Barret stopped firing as Cid snatched the Fire materia from his gun-arm and slotted it into the pole of his spear.

"Let me take a crack at the bitch!" he said. The pilot then hoisted his spear (which he had retrieved from where it had fallen) up onto his shoulder, took aim, and then threw it.

The spear landed in Jenova's shoulder. On contact the Fire materia flashed and the spear erupted into flame. The flames spread like wildfire along Jenova's shoulders and across her broad torso, damaging the skin faster than her healing magic could fix it. Jenova roared and writhed in pain, her wings flailing as she tried to bat out the flames that were spreading quickly along her body.

"Not so fast!"

Jenova looked up and had a sudden sense of déjà vu as he saw Tifa falling down towards him after jumping up to a higher spot and diving down toward the calamity. The fighter kicked a devastating blow to Sephiroth's jaw, sending his head reeling backwards. She grasped Sephiroth's head and drove her knee into his face, before drawing back her fist.

"Tifa," she heard Barret call, "get back now!"

Tifa looked down at her feet. A ball of light rose up in front of her, separating her from Jenova. It shimmered and began to take form. Tifa stared as the light took on the form of an angel, with small, glowing wings and a cool, calm face. But unlike the angels she had seen in stories, this angel had eyes that were literally made of ice. They glinted as they stared at her, and the angel's calm face split into an evil, heartless smile.

"Tifa!" called Naruto as he also jumped off Bahamut and landed next to Cloud. "Get back!"

This time she heeded his words and jumped back away from Jenova, landing on the platform beside Cloud and Naruto. The angel spread its arms and then raised them over its head. Numerous fireballs filled the air above them, covering the sky in a blanket of fire. The angel then lowered its arms and the balls rained down onto the battlefield.

The companions raised their arms to shield themselves as the fireballs rained down around them. Those that hit the platforms dug deep holes into the rock, incinerating them so that they were black and charred. Cait covered his head with his hands and cried out as Nanaki leaped from podium to podium, dodging the fireballs whilst trying to make his way over to his friends.

Through the falling fire he saw Vincent, Gaara and Barret standing back to back as they fired shots imbued with ice up at the fireballs that fell around them, freezing them and shattering them. To the other side, Cloud and Naruto swiped their swords, slicing the balls that came within range. Tifa could only dodge, ducking and rolling around the platform, trying not to be hit. And Aeris was safe from harm as she was still on top of Bahamut who was now carrying Yuffie. Aeris cast healing spell after healing spell to keep everyone alive from this fiery onslaught.

Then, something pierced through the fire. It struck Jenova squarely in her chest and flung her back into the wall of the mako pit, pinning her against it. Jenova screamed in rage as she looked down at the massive spear that penetrated her torso and pinned her to the wall. She looked up at Cid and Odin, standing together on the outer rim. The pilot rubbed his nose and gave Naruto a thumbs up.

"There ya go! I got him pinned. Now hurry up and finish the job!" he shouted.

Naruto nodded. He turned to Barret. "Barret, I need a boost!" he called.

Barret nodded and leaped down onto the lower platform. He ran alongside Naruto to the edge, where he stopped and stretched out his arm. Naruto jumped and, thanks to his ninja training, landed perfectly on his gun-arm and then, with Barret giving him a push, jumped again and soared up towards Jenova.

Jenova was pinned and unable to escape. She raised her wings but did it too late. Naruto zoomed in, swung his blade, and thrust the sword. He struck. The blade sank home.

And, in that moment, everyone held their breath.

* * *

(AN: Sorry it's been a while since the last installment on this story, but I've been busy with the other stories. I'll still be concentrating on them, but I'll continue to write on this story.)


	15. Chapter 15: Beyond the Edge of the Plane

**Chapter 15: Beyond the Edge of the Planet**

The silence that followed after Naruto struck was immense. The companions stood still, their eyes fixed on Naruto and Jenova. Everything was so quiet and so still it was as though Stop had been cast over the battlefield, keeping everything in place.

Naruto was standing on Odin's spear, which still pierced Jenova's torso. His sword was embedded deeply in the calamity's chest, just beneath her heart. Blood trickled thickly down the blade. It reached the hilt and spilled onto Naruto's fingers. A few drops fell and splashed onto the mako pool far below them, marring the gentle green surface with dots of ugly red.

Whatever magic had gripped the field then vanished, as Jenova shuddered and coughed. Droplets of blood splashed onto the blade, and Naruto raised his head. Jenova was glaring down at him, its face twisted in anger. Blood seeped out of the corners of its mouth. When it coughed droplets fell and landed on Naruto's face, trickling down his cheeks. The ninja ignored them, gazing up into the eyes of his enemy.

"You…" Jenova's voice was hoarse. "This… This is not over yet!"

"I know. We're not finished yet," Naruto growled as he pushed his sword deeper into Jenova's chest, until it was almost at the hilt. Jenova coughed again and more blood spilled onto the blade. Numerous drops fell onto the mako below, forming a reddish cloud. Jenova shuddered—Naruto could feel its body weakening. He altered his grip and withdrew his blade, and then jumped back off the spear to re-join his friends on the platforms below. They all gathered around him, looking up at Jenova.

Odin's spear disappeared and Jenova sagged heavily. Its head slumped onto its chest. It moved away from the wall, moving slowly towards them. Before it could reach the group a tremor shook its body and it began to fall. Jenova raised its wings, reaching for the companions, but they dropped back to its sides as the strength left it. It fell into the Lifestream, shattering its smooth surface. It sank, and the mako closed over it. It was gone.

One by one the companions lowered their weapons and began to breathe again. They could not believe it. It was over.

"Stay ready! This isn't done yet!" Naruto said loudly. They all blinked once before they readied themselves, knowing that Naruto knew something they didn't. The ninja raised his sword and held it ready, waiting.

The surface of the pool started to bubble. It swelled and then burst upwards, sending showers of mako flying into the air. The mako began to swirl around them, growing so hot that clouds of steam began to rise off of it. The clouds spread and surrounded the companions, growing so thick that they blotted everything from sight. Aeris turned and watched in alarm as one by one her friends vanished from her sight, swallowed up by the smoke. The ground beneath her feet disappeared, dispersing into the clouds, leaving her with the feeling that she was standing on the clouds themselves.

"Cloud!" she called, trying to find him through the smoke.

"What the hell's happening?" That was Cid's voice, coming from behind her.

"This is Jenova's doing," Nanaki's voice spoke from somewhere beside her.

"What!" exclaimed Yuffie. "You mean it's not dead yet?"

"That blow should have fucking killed it!" That, obviously, came from Barret.

"Hmph," grunted Vincent. He didn't seem too surprised.

"This is Jenova you're talkin' about," Cait said. "You didn't think it'd go down as easy as that, did you?"

"Jenova is indeed a tough adversary!" Gaara muttered, readying his gun.

"Why can't it just die!" cried out Tifa.

"We just need to persevere! We've almost won this!" Cloud called.

Naruto gripped his sword tightly. "Get your slimy ass out here, bitch!" he yelled to the clouds.

_As you wish…_

The clouds lifted, and the companions saw that once again the scenery around them had changed. When they could see each other again the eleven friends drew together and stood in a wide circle, facing outwards, examining their new surroundings.

They stood at the centre of the Twirling Heavens, a landscape of Jenova's own devising, chosen specially for this final confrontation. Dozens of white clouds swirled around them, stretching endlessly into the distance. When they looked down they saw that there was no ground beneath their feet; they stood on the air itself. An unknown source of light shone around them, filling the battlefield with light.

Above them the clouds parted. The companions looked up and their mouths opened wide in awe as Jenova emerged from the parting clouds, descending upon them.

Once again Jenova's form had changed. From the waist up it looked like Sephiroth—mostly—with his chest bare and muscled, his arms spread out. His left arm was normal with the palm facing upwards, but his right arm had been replaced by a long purple-black wing with feathers that were as sharp and deadly as blades. Jenova's face, as Sephiroth, was cold and impassive, betraying no emotion. His long silver hair trailed above him, shimmering as the bright light of the heavens passed over it. Behind his shoulders and head were two large golden halos that shone brightly with untold energy, twirling slowly.

From the waist down all semblance of humanity disappeared, as his legs were replaced with six great white wings. These wings, with their purple-tipped feathers, beat slowly as Jenova floated down and hovered before the companions. The companions stood together, unwavering, their weapons ready in their hands. Jenova's eyes passed over them, unblinking.

"**Naru-kun! You need to jab the needle into his human part,"** Kyuubi relayed her instructions for using the drug.

'Got it Kyuu-chan. Wish me luck!' Naruto replied in his head. He immediately received a warm feeling within him and the feeling that he just received a kiss. He smiled softly before his eyes hardened as he looked up at Jenova.

"Let's do this!" he cried out.

Cloud was the first to try his luck. He charged in as Jenova raised her winged arm and brought it down in front of her. The wing blade cut right through the air—they could hear it being ripped apart—and sent a powerful gust of wind and energy hurtling towards Cloud. Cloud swung his sword and cut through the energy, splitting it in two. He swung his sword again, and the blade clashed against Jenova's wing. There was a flash as the two connected, and tendrils of white energy tapered off around them.

Cloud drew his sword and struck again. Jenova, too, swung her arm. The two weapons clashed and more white sparks danced around them. Jenova's wing blade was harder than steel, and the strength put into each strike was immense. Cloud returned each of Jenova's blows with a strike of his own, fighting back with equal strength and determination. Gradually he began to push Jenova back.

The Buster Sword clanged against the wing blade. Jenova grunted and pulled back away from Cloud, her face dark. She raised her hand and a ball of dark energy formed around it. When Cloud saw it he jumped back out of the way. Jenova grinned and threw the ball down at Cloud's feet. The ball expanded, tripling in size. It pulled Cloud in, and the he cried out as the shock of Demi tried to tear his body apart.

Aeris quickly summoned up a cure spell for Cloud as Tifa and the others charged, while Naruto hung back, waiting for his chance to strike. Jenova looked up; saw the companions heading towards her. With a wave of his hand she cast Cloud away and turned to face them. She gestured with her hand, daring them to come. Still she mocked them and made light of their strength.

Gaara, Barret and Vincent stopped and stood side by side as they fired a stream of bullets through the air. Seeing the volley approach, Jenova held out her hand, palm open, in front of her. A wall of energy rose up in front of her and blocked the bullets, which bounced off with a clang.

While the three gunmen fired their weapons Ifrit came thundering past them, charging on all fours towards Jenova. The beast then stopped and leaped into the air. Flames swept over his fist like a glove, making his already powerful arm much more deadly. The beast roared loudly and then brought his fist crashing down on Jenova's barrier, intending to smash it to pieces. The barrier gave a jolt and a long crack formed in its translucent surface, but it remained in place, protecting Jenova from harm. Ifrit landed in front of the calamity and raised his fist once more, this time preparing to smash the barrier completely.

Moving so fast the eye could barely see it, Jenova lowered her barrier and swung her wing blade. Ifrit scrabbled as he was swept up off the floor, and with another wave of her arm Jenova sent him flying through the air. He sailed over Gaara, Barret and Vincent, and Barret paused in his volley long enough to watch Ifrit fly overhead.

"Barret!" called Vincent.

Barret turned back. His eyes widened as he saw Jenova surging towards him, moving at astonishing speed. Before Barret could even think about moving away Jenova was upon him, her wing blade raised and ready to strike. The wing came down and Barret closed his eyes tight. There was a loud clash followed by a flash of light. Barret slowly opened his eyes. Naruto was standing in front of him, his sword raised level over his head. The wing blade rested heavily against the sword, blocked by the blade.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder. "Move it you dumbass!"

The former resistance leader did as he was told and jumped back. He raised his gun-arm and fired. Jenova instantly raised her barrier, blocking the bullets just in time. Jenova ignored Barret and looked down at Naruto still standing in front of him, blocking Jenova's wing with his sword.

_"You,"_ Jenova said in that heavily feminine demonic overtone over Sephiroth's own, _"are becoming a nuisance."_

Naruto eye smiled pleasantly, despite the weight of the wing blade on his sword. "Then it seems I'm doing my job," he said, and pushed on his sword. Little by little, the wing blade was pushed back, succumbing to Naruto's greater will.

Jenova's eyes narrowed. She raised his hand. Sparks of energy formed around it and were drawn into the centre of her palm. Her hand glowed, and a beam of blue energy came shooting out. Naruto lowered his sword and dived out of the way, feeling the heat of the beam as it sailed narrowly passed him. The ninja swordsman hit the floor and rolled back onto his feet. He held his sword out in front of him, ready to attack.

Jenova moved after him, obviously ticked off. There was a flash of light and something suddenly zipped past her face. Jenova halted. Something trickled down her cheek. Jenova reached up and touched her face; stared at the blood that was on her fingertips. The calamity's brow creased in almost uncontrollable anger.

There was a second flash of movement, but this time Jenova was ready for it as she reached out and snatched the object out of the air. She looked down at the object. It was a shuriken. Jenova looked behind her and saw Yuffie standing at a safe distance with a surprised look on her face, startled that she had caught her weapon so easily. Jenova waved her hand and hurled the shuriken right back at her. Yuffie nimbly leaped out of the way and, while she was in mid-flip, Jenova fired another beam of pale blue light. The ninja saw the beam coming but was unable to dodge it in time. She braced herself for the end.

Out of nowhere, a mass of scales and muscle landed in front of Yuffie, causing her to look up. There stood Neo-Bahamut in all his red glory. The dragon quickly charged up a Giga Flare and fired it at the incoming beam. The two energy beams struck each other and exploded into a shower of light. Neo-Bahamut held firm, continuing to fire his Giga Flare in defence. Behind the massive red dragon Yuffie stared in wonder as she looked at her defender. A shadow fell behind her and she turned, smiling in relief as she saw Naruto touch down next to her.

"Looks like you could use a helping hand," he grinned.

Jenova closed her palm and the beam ceased. Catching movement in the corner of her eye she swerved easily to the side, missing a recovered Cloud's attempt to catch her off guard. Behind Cloud, Cid threw his spear, and with a wave of his wing blade Jenova sent the weapon flying back, along with Cloud and Cid.

Jenova smiled in sadistic pleasure as the two men crashed and rolled along the floor. Then something large and heavy slammed into her back, knocking the wind out of her. The calamity stumbled forward. Her wings crumpled beneath her and she fell down onto the floor.

Titan stood over her. Nanaki stood on the titan's broad shoulder, with Cait Sith sitting safely on his back.

"Hold him there!" Naruto ordered as he fished the vial from his pocket and used chakra to jump over Neo-Bahamut's shoulder towards Jenova. But Jenova was far from finished. With a beat of her wings she twisted out of Titan's grasp. Nanaki ordered Titan to follow her, but Jenova was already up off the ground and rising high up into the air. The calamity stopped and hovered in the air above them. She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes.

"Oh shit!" Naruto swore as he quickly flipped through several handseals.

Light swept throughout the Twirling Heavens, burning so brightly that it blotted out the clouds and the sky. The companions looked around in alarm as everything around them vanished, swallowed up by the white light. Dark shadows fell over their bodies, in contrast to the light.

"Ninjutsu: Chakra Shield!" Naruto called out. A bright blue sphere grew out of his chest and expanded to encompass everyone.

Then it hit them. A hundred balls of bursting black energy burst out of the light and swamped the battlefield. The balls surrounded the shield, contracted and then exploded in a shower of dark light. But at the centre was Naruto, blazing with golden energy and blue bio-lightning as he fed the shield with his Level Three Kikangan. After the bombardment finished a minute later, the shield went down. Jenova swung her wing blade down on top of Naruto but he simply flashed out of the way. The wing crashed into the 'ground' and Naruto saw his chance. Pulling out the vial once again he flashed up Jenova's wing blade and got straight into her face.

"Goodbye Jenova," he whispered before he jabbed the vial into Jenova's neck. The calamity froze and Naruto removed the vial and flashed back, reverting back to his normal self.

"What's going on?" Barret asked.

"The drug that I just administered to Jenova should now be purging the Jenova cells and replicating its own cells to save Sephiroth. Hopefully," Naruto said as he continued to watch their frozen adversary. The clouds behind her came close together and lightning flashed, followed by a deep roll of thunder. A strong breeze began to blow. The companions raised their arms to shield their eyes as more lightning flashed, blinding them.

Sparks of light began to dance over Jenova's frozen body, covering her from her head down to her wingtips. The two halos behind her head grew dark, their light gone, and as the companions watched they crumbled and dissolved into dust. The wind caught them and pulled them back into the clouds.

Then Jenova's wings began to dissolve themselves from her lower body, showing that Sephiroth's lower body did exist. However he was stark naked down there. All the females of the group turned away in embarrassment and some of the blokes did too. Naruto simply shook his head. 'I wish he had some clothes on him.'

The wing blade was the last thing to dissolve off of Sephiroth. And as soon as that was done, Sephiroth's body drifted to the ground and he remained as still as if he were dead. Naruto walked over to him and checked his pulse.

"He's still alive. I guess the new DNA is taking some time to rebuild his body," Naruto reported. He pulled back one of his eyelids to see if he was aware, and watched in fascination as he saw Sephiroth's green cat-like eyes disappear to be replaced with chocolate brown irises and round pupils.

Naruto then picked up Sephiroth's form and hefted him over his shoulder. "Ok, now how do we get outta here?" he asked, before a fierce storm began to blow through the Twirling Heavens. The high winds lifted the companions off their feet and carried them through the clouds, until a bright light appeared and snatched them away. The Twirling Heavens vanished from their sight, and when the light finally faded they found themselves back at the edge of the Mako pit. Back at the point where the party had split up.

Naruto knelt down at the edge of the mako pit. He looked down the walls at the calmly glowing mako pit far below them. He watched as the platforms they had used to get down to the bottom crumble and fall into the pool, along with the scattered remains of the podium where they had fought the Jenova balloon. There was no trace of the calamity.

Naruto collapsed backwards and let out a long sigh. His sword poofed into a cloud of smoke before Kyuubi embraced him.

"Well, I guess this is all we could do. The rest is up to the planet herself," Naruto said as he got to his feet and the two walked over to the rest of the group.

"Wait!" Barret interrupted. Naruto looked at him over his shoulder. "What about Holy?" Barret asked him. "What's gonna happen to the Planet?"

"Like I said, it's the Planet's call now," he repeated. "We might as well go back to the Highwind." He would of started to do so, but the ground suddenly started to shake, making Naruto stumble to the ground. Around him the mako pit was shaking violently, as a powerful quake rumbled from deep within the Planet.

"What the fuck is going on now?" Barret roared in alarm as parts of the Mako pool's edge began to crumble away into the mako. The team backed away from the edge.

"Is everyone ok?" Naruto asked. Confirmation calls from all eleven members plus Kyuubi answered him.

"That felt like something giving in," Gaara said. A loud rumble sounded from deep beneath the earth, as if to answer the sand ninja. Somewhere at the bottom of the pit, something was beginning to give way. Yuffie leaned over the edge of the path and looked down into the mako. It was impossible to see anything beneath its shifting surface. The ninja turned and looked up at Gaara, who shrugged.

"Holy should be moving soon," said Nanaki, "and that means this place will…" He let the sentence hang. Everyone knew what would happen if Holy began to move while they were still in the crater.

Cid turned his gaze to the sky. "Oh, Lady Luck don't fail me now…" he prayed.

Just as he finished his prayer, the crater began to tremble. Cid's jaw fell open, and his cigarette dropped down onto the floor. It rolled to the end of the path and slipped over the edge. It landed on top of the mako pool, gave a slight hiss as it went out, and then sank out of sight.

Everyone looked up to the top of the crater. A violent tremor began to shake the Northern Crater down to its very foundations. The tremors grew so strong that they began to tear the crater apart. Chunks of rock broke away from the walls and smashed onto the path, cutting off any hopes of retreat. More rock tumbled from above, followed by a thick, smothering cloud of dirt and rock that descended rapidly down the crater towards them. The twelve companions rose to their feet, bracing themselves for the end.

"Well I'm not giving up!" Naruto cried out as he stood up and focused. Kyuubi popped back into the sword and three summon materia pieces glowed in their spots on the blade. There was a roar and the entire party looked up to see the Bahamut trio weaving and dodging around the falling rocks before they slowed and came to a stop before the party, clinging onto the edge of the cliff.

"Get on everyone!" Naruto ordered and they all bounded onto a respective dragon.

"Everyone on?" Naruto called as he gripped Sephiroth's limp form tightly and again everyone replied with a loud 'YES!'. "Ok Bahamut brothers! Take us to the Highwind!"

"_Hang on tight everyone!"_ Bahamut roared as he and his brothers detached from the ledge and began to spiral their way up the crater. They past all the areas they had previously traversed and after several minutes of this upward climb they blasted out of the crater and levelled out, only to swoop down to the Highwind which was now hovering a bit higher then where they parked due to the whole crater sinking into the ground slowly.

Each dragon levitated next to the deck of the Highwind to drop off their passengers before they nodded and disappeared back into the materia on Naruto's sword. They dashed up the stairs and onto the bridge.

"Get us high enough before pulling the emergency lever! We need to hightail ourselves outta her fast!" Cid yelled, making the pilot and engineers jump into action. The Highwind began to drift away from the top of the crater.

A bright glow began to fill the Northern Crater. The air surrounding the crater began to ripple and waver, growing so hot that the ice on the trees and mountains began to melt. The light grew brighter and brighter and then suddenly burst forth in a wave of intense blue-white energy. It was Holy, released at last from its prison at the heart of the Planet and bursting to the surface in a powerful wave, sending a shockwave ripping through the forests around the crater.

As Holy burst out of the earth, the Highwind was thrown off course by the shockwave. Inside the companions were being thrown out by the buffeting of the airship. The airship lurched and leaned heavily to one side. Cloud clung onto the main console with one hand, with Tifa holding onto the other, trying to keep them both from falling off their feet. Barret came sliding past them, narrowly missing Nanaki, whose claws were dug into the grated ground. Aeris hung tightly to Nanaki's back. Yuffie tumbled past Cait as he staggered about on his Mog. Gaara released his sand and sent some to catch Yuffie before she crashed. Vincent hung by one hand next to Naruto, who had used chakra to make himself stick to the floor which was almost vertical, still hanging onto a stark naked Sephiroth.

Cid was on his belly, clinging onto a handle attached to the floor. He heard the pained roar of the engines as they fought to steady the airship. He heard the sirens whirring loudly; saw the red flash of the lights.

"Shit!" the pilot cursed fervently. Naruto hefted Sephiroth again and crawled like a spider up to Cid's position, using chakra in his hands and feet to do so.

"Where's this Emergency lever you were talking about?" he yelled over the roaring sound from outside as Holy continued to burst its way out of the planet.

"Up there!" Cid yelled back as he looked up. Naruto also looked up and spotted the lever in question. He quickly scaled the remaining feet and, balancing Sephiroth's body on his shoulder, he reached out and pulled the lever.

The airship shuddered and exploded in a large ball of flame just moments before it would have smashed into the outer perimeter of the Northern Crater. The Highwind burst out of the flames. Its shape had changed once again, with two large, flat wings at the sides and a single, powerful jet-powered engine at the back. The newly emerged airship spiralled out of the flames and moved away from the crater, following Holy as it turned in the sky, heading south.


	16. Chapter 16: Rasengan to the Rescue!

**Chapter 16: Rasengan to the Rescue!**

Marlene was sitting by herself in her room, waiting anxiously for news on her father. Elmyra and the other members of AVALANCHE were downstairs in the living room, also waiting.

It had been almost two days since she and Elmyra had been taken from their rooms at Shinra Headquarters, and almost a full day since her father had left again. Barret had promised her that he would be coming home soon, and she believed him. But Marlene was a bright young girl; she knew when something wasn't right. She could see the worry in her father's eyes, and ever since he left she had maintained a silent vigil in her room, waiting for him to come back for her.

"Marlene?" a female voice called and she turned around to see Jessie poking her head through the door. The female member of AVALANCHE gave Marlene a smile that barely hid the fear she had.

"Hey Jessie," she replied. She was about to ask what was wrong, but then the shutters on the window rattled, catching the attention of both. Jessie hesitated a bit before she crossed over to the window. "I'll just tighten these shutters. There's a bit of a storm going on outside," she said. But before she could do just that, the shutters were wrenched open, and Jessie froze. Marlene, curious as to what she was staring at, jumped off the chair and walked over to Jessie, peeking out of the window.

She was met by a strong wind that was blowing fiercely throughout Kalm. The wind was so strong it almost wrenched the shutters from her hands, and sent her hair whipping about her face.

Wispy tendrils of dark red energy had fallen over the Kalm, giving the rural village a ghastly aura. The air was warm even though it was dark outside, and there was a strange smell being carried on the wind. Marlene turned her eyes westward and looked over at Midgar, her former home.

Meteor was there. It had pierced through the atmosphere and was now descending on the Planet, with Midgar directly at the point of impact. The flames that had covered its body were gone and Marlene saw in perfect detail the craters that covered its surface. The meteor dwarfed the great city, almost twice its size. When Meteor hit Midgar would be crushed, until no trace of it remained. The wispy tendrils that flowed through Kalm were coming from Meteor, converging around Midgar.

Forked blue bolts of lightning flashed and rent the air. Fierce whirlwinds rose up from inside Midgar's perimeter and joined with Meteor, connecting the two. As Meteor gave them strength the whirlwinds grew thicker and stronger, and began to ravage the upper plates of the city. Anything that came in their path was destroyed, and there was nothing that was not in their path. There were eight tornados in all, one in each of Midgar's eight sectors, including the ruins of Sector 7.

Deadly plates of sharp metal went flying into the air as the tornados tore them from the ground, filling the air with lethal shrapnel. The whirlwinds were drawn inwards towards Shinra Headquarters and began to tear up the ground outside. The watchtowers and scaffolding supporting the cannon were destroyed as the tornados came past. One bolt of blue lightning rose up from the ground at the feet of one of the whirlwinds and struck the main building. It tore mercilessly through the building. When it reached the top the upper beams gave way. The top floors fell away and crashed into the ground below.

The whirlwinds moved back out again. Homes were ripped apart, reduced to rubble. One of the mako reactors exploded into flames, though the mako supply had been shut off. The whirlwinds continued their assault on the city. Soon there would be nothing left that resembled Midgar. The whirlwinds would destroy everything, and then Meteor would finish the job by ploughing the city into the ground.

All of this Marlene and Jessie watched from the bedroom window, their eyes wide in wonder and fear respectively. At that point a flash of light redirected their attention to the source.

Holy appeared and raced forwards, heading towards Midgar and Meteor. The blessed light struck and ripped through the raging whirlwinds, severing their connection to the Planet. On contact Holy flashed brightly, and the two females had to shield their eyes from the pure light.

Holy spread out over Midgar and the surrounding land, covering it in a protective shield. Meteor touched Holy's surface. Both powers shimmered brightly as they exerted their will against one another, fighting to see who would emerge the strongest. Meteor pushed against Holy and, slowly, began to break through. It pierced through Holy's sparkling shield and came out the other side, continuing its descent upon Midgar. The dark red aura returned with devastating fury, bathing the city and the underside of Holy's shield in a sea of red. Red clouds swept through the city, smothering it in deadly smoke.

Naruto and his friends watched from the Highwind as Holy struck. The airship was flying above Meteor and Holy, keeping a safe distance. The companions clustered together around the window, peering out. Meteor's intimidating glow spread rapidly across the ground, and they could see the blue lightning start to flash once more.

When Barret saw Meteor begin to break through Holy's defences, he blinked and turned to his friends. "Wait a damn minute!" he said gruffly. "What about Midgar?" The resistance leader slammed his fist into the rail. "We can't let that happen!"

"We had everyone take refuge in the slums," said Cait, "but the way things are now…" He looked out at the devastated city, barely visible through Holy's light. Cait lowered his head, his ears drooped, and he rubbed his eyes. The plates would provide little protection for those sheltering underneath.

Nanaki padded up to stand beside Naruto. "It's too late for Holy," he said. Through the rails he watched as Meteor continued to push itself deeper into Holy's shield. Holy responded by trying to draw its energy around Meteor, gathering its strength at the point of impact. Its efforts were in vain, for Meteor continued to push through. "Meteor is approaching the Planet. Holy is having the opposite effect."

Holy rose up around Meteor's lower half, forming a protective cocoon. Waves of energy spilled down its surface as it was repelled by Meteor. From below the blue lightning flashed and struck Holy, but Holy persevered and continued to fight against its opposite, trying desperately to keep Meteor from reaching the Planet.

"Forget Midgar," said Nanaki, "we've gotta worry about the Planet now."

"This is amazing… and terrifying. I feel like I'm back fighting with Sasuke at the Valley of the End," Naruto whispered to himself as he watched the two titanic magic forces wrestling with each other. He heard a faint voice and he turned to see Aeris, hands clutched together, praying. What about, he couldn't tell.

"_**Naruto…"**_

'Huh? You say something Kyuu-chan?' Naruto asked in his mind.

"**That wasn't me,"** she replied.

'…the spirit of the Planet?' he asked.

"_**Yes. I need your help."**_

'What with?' he asked.

"_**I need a focus point. I'm sending the Lifestream to help Holy, but I need a focus point."**_

'What do I need to do?'

"_**Just get to the Point of Impact. I'll take care of the rest."**_

'But what do I do when I get there?' Naruto asked, but he was only met with silence. 'Kyuu-chan, you get all that?'

"**Sure did. We need to get there quickly, but I doubt the Highwind can get us there without being torn apart,"** she replied.

'No problems. I've got an idea,' he replied before he walked over to Cloud and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I need your help. Follow me," Naruto said before he began to run toward the outside deck. Cloud paused before followed.

The deck was oddly shielded, so even though the Highwind was hurtling at high speeds, there was only a slight breeze that ruffled Naruto and Cloud's hair.

"So what's up?" Cloud repeated.

"I need to get to Ground Zero right now," Naruto explained.

"Are you crazy?!" Cloud exclaimed.

"Probably, but I still gotta do it," Naruto replied. "I need you to give me a boost in Meteor's direction."

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"No… not really. But I'm still going," Naruto said.

Cloud sighed before removing his Buster Sword and turned it so the flat of the blade was facing horizontally. He held it out. "Ready?" he asked.

Naruto nodded before he jumped into the air and touched down on Cloud's sword. He bent his knees and glued his feet to the blade with chakra as Cloud swung in a full circle. When Naruto faced the direction of Meteor, he went to Level 3 and jumped off the Buster Sword. He took off like a golden comet, blazing high into the air.

* * *

Back inside everyone was still in deep thought at the situation. They were broken from their thoughts as Vincent noticed a golden streak of light race past, heading toward Meteor.

"What was that?" Aeris asked in surprise.

"It was Naruto," Cloud said as he walked back onto the bridge.

"WHAT?!" mostly everyone yelled in alarm before they looked back to see the golden comet arc and dip back towards the ground, heading for the top of the Shinra building.

* * *

Naruto braced himself as he skimmed past the edge of Meteor and landed on the top of the Shinra building, creating a very large crater as he did so, but the energy surrounding him protected him from any damage.

'Ok, I'm here!' Naruto called out in his mind, hoping the goddess heard him. The wind was so fierce here that he needed to amass a large amount of chakra into his feet and legs to stop from being ripped off the top. There was so much dark red energy and smoke that he couldn't figure which direction he was facing. It was like he was standing on a very small island in the middle of a maroon abyss, where nothing existed beyond the island.

'This is taking creepy to a new level,' Naruto thought as he strengthened his chakra hold as a heavy blast of wind almost uprooted him from the top of the building. 'I would imagine this is what Hell would look like. Or something similar.'

"**You wouldn't be wrong there,"** Kyuubi replied.

* * *

"What's he doin' down there for?" Barret asked in bewilderment.

"He didn't say. Just that he needed to get there," Cloud replied.

"Well he wouldn't do something that batshit crazy without a plan," Cid said.

"We just need to trust that he knows what he's doing," Nanaki stated.

Silence fell over the companions.

"You think he plans to blow Meteor away with a fully charged Ultima?" Yuffie asked. "Cause that'd be awesome to watch! Who needs Holy when you've got the most kick ass spell in existence!"

"I don't think it would work," Aeris replied.

"Aww man!" the kunoichi whined.

"Wait! What's that?" Tifa asked as she pointed to what she had spotted. The companions turned and looked out of the window. Outside of Midgar, some distance away from the impact zone, something was beginning to emerge out of the ground. The dry, cracked soil shifted, and a long, slender green wisp of energy pushed its way up out of the ground. The wisp wavered; the numerous strands of pale green energy that made up its body shimmered. Then the wisp began to make its way southwards, heading towards Midgar.

Another wispy tendril pushed its way out of the earth close to the first, and also began to head south. A third tendril followed it and then another… Dozens of them were emerging all at once from the very dark depths of the Planet. They moved together, moving in gentle waves.

The companions all leaned against the rails, watching as dozens more wisps of energy rose out of the Planet's surface. The dark and withered land was quickly covered in lines of pale green light that wove and wound around each other to form even larger tendrils of pulsing energy. More tendrils began to rise to the west of Midgar and to the east, and then finally from the south. They just kept on appearing, more and more of them, seemingly endless.

"What the hell IS that…?" asked Barret. He looked at Cloud.

Cloud did not take his eyes away from the window, his gaze fixed on the tendrils as they wound their way towards the airship. "…Lifestream," he said simply.

Barret stared at him, and then slowly turned back to the window. So this was the Lifestream… Barret was not a sentimental man or a philosophical one, but it touched him in a very deep place in his heart to think that the Planet would resort to this: to use its own life energy in the fight against Meteor. He watched the tendrils as they moved onwards towards Midgar.

In Kalm, the villagers opened their windows and watched as a pale green glow appeared over the horizon. It seemed that even the living were drawn to this, compelled to watch by a spiritual feeling only the very old understood. Marlene and Jessie stared, their eyes wide.

"It's coming," Marlene said, as the green glow grew brighter.

"Jessie!" a voice called and Biggs barged into the room. "Jessie! Are you seeing this?" he shouted in excitement. He then was silenced as he walked forward to join Jessie and Marlene at the window.

As the three watched more tendrils rose up out of the ground between Kalm and Midgar. They rose up tall, intertwining, heading eastward toward the city. A glow then fell over them and the three looked up to see even more tendrils passing by overhead. They joined with the rest of the swarm.

* * *

"Hurry up! What's taking so long?!" Naruto yelled in frustration as the forceful winds picked up in speed and strength. He turned around, trying to see something other than dark red; some sort of sign that help was coming.

And then he saw it; a single strand of green energy forcing its way through the dense red smoke and reaching out to Naruto. He reached out his hand and the energy curled around his hand before wrapping up into a small ball, centred on his palm.

"I see," Naruto nodded before he raised his hand above him and formed a normal Rasengan. The strand of Lifestream energy merged with the Rasengan and pulsed there. Naruto looked around to see more and more strands of Lifestream shining through the smoke and joining the Rasengan, making it bigger. This started to put a strain on Naruto's focus. And the energy continued to flow into the attack, quickly changing the colour of the Rasengan from a shimmering blue, to a shining green.

Naruto gripped his right wrist with his left hand, putting extra focus into stabilizing this Lifestream Rasengan as more energy was added and the sphere grew and grew in size. It was now as big as him, but it continued to grow, much more quickly as a literal torrent of energy was now merging into the sphere.

Naruto gritted his teeth and outputted more of his Kikangan energy to stabilize the roaring green giant sphere of energy above him, which was now as big as a house. 'I will not be done in by this!' he growled mentally. "I will protect this planet and my friends!"

Then a surge of energy rushed through him and golden light erupted around him, flaring up for a second before dying down. His hair had lengthened again, now reaching down to his calf muscles. Massive amounts of blue bio-lightning discharged from his form as the Rasengan continued to grow. It was now as big as the Hokage building back at Konoha. Naruto couldn't ponder on what this surge of power meant for his concentration was all taken up on keeping this Rasengan stable.

The sphere continued to grow until the top touched Meteor. Naruto instantly buckled as the pressure doubled several times over. It felt like he was under several tons of weight. "…Not yet!" he grunted before standing straight once again. "Not out yet!"

Meteor had finally come to a complete stop as the Lifestream Rasengan pushed against the Ultimate Destructive Magic spell, the sphere now as big as the Shinra building. The two were at a proper stalemate as while the Rasengan was very powerful, it was still equal to the power of Meteor.

"COME OOOONNNN!" Naruto roared as he fed his new found power into the sphere. "JUST A LITTLE… BIT… MORE!" But he had no more power to give. Not only was he using his chakra and power of the Kikangan, but he was using the full power of his fox tail that he had. He had nothing more to give.

* * *

Back on the Highwind, everyone stood in awe at the sight of this small sphere of green energy pushed Meteor to a standstill. Small in that it was still about twenty times smaller than Meteor itself.

"Is that… Is Naruto doing that?" Aeris asked in wonder.

"I believe it is," Vincent agreed.

"Amazing…" Cloud murmured.

"Holy shit!" Barret exclaimed.

"You can do it!" Tifa yelled.

* * *

'I don't know if I can go on…' Naruto whispered in his mind. 'I've got nothing left to give.'

There was silence.

'Kyuu-chan?' he asked before a massive amount of pain erupted from his whole body. It was such a shock, that he almost lost control of the Rasengan.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH !" Naruto cried out in pain as he heard a loud ripping sound, before suddenly, he was flooded with power. He immediately focused the power into the Rasengan, which tripled a few times over in size, pushing Meteor back from the sudden increase in power and size. Now the Rasengan was about half the size of Meteor itself, and was continuing to grow as more Lifestream energy poured into the absolutely titanic Rasengan.

Naruto roared as he pushed more and more of this newfound energy into the Rasengan. At the top, where the Rasengan had just been scratching the metallic surface, the green sphere now began to dig into Meteor, ripping out chunks and pulverising them into oblivion. The Rasengan continued to get bigger until it reached a peak size of two thirds as big as Meteor. And standing underneath, holding up the sphere of energy, was Naruto.

Then Naruto released his focus on the top side of the Rasengan, and everything turned to white.

* * *

The Highwind was rocked by an airborne blast wave as white light burst from the top of the shining green sphere. Everyone squinted their eyes and saw a rocket like jet of energy blasting and burning through Meteor. A giant flare of bright green energy erupted from the opposite end of Meteor and the whole thing began to rise into the sky as the rocket energy propelled Meteor away from Midgar. It continued to rise further and further before the whole thing was engulfed in the white pillar of energy, blasting any remaining clouds in the atmosphere away.

Then then white energy died down until there was nothing left of it. The companions looked down at the Shinra building, trying to see any sign of Naruto, but they were too far away.

"Cid! Get us down there," Gaara ordered.

"You got it," he replied before turning the steering wheel and bringing the Highwind down to hover next to the broken down building. Everyone rushed out of the bridge and onto the deck. They peered over the edge.

And saw Naruto, lying still on the ground, in the middle of a large crater. His clothes had been torn to shreds; mere rags now hung off his frame. Gaara and Vincent were the first ones to vault over the edge and land next to the ninja, with the others close behind him

"Is he alive?" Aeris asked, almost crying.

Gaara knelt down and pressed his hand against Naruto's uncovered chest and was still for a minute.

"He's still breathing!" he announced.

"Yay!" "Alright!" "Yes!" "Thank goodness." And other similar responses were cried out in relief and joy.

Naruto's body shifted and everyone broke off their celebrating to study the blonde closely, wondering if he was waking up. That was when they all realised that his foxy features were released for everyone to see. That that wasn't the most shocking thing.

"Why does he have two tails now?" Cloud asked.


End file.
